Review_CHILDREN’S
74 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ JANUARY 27, 2020
Review_CHILDREN’S
(“Your tweets stink!”), who turns on Goat.
Pressed to apologize, they do, but not one
is sincere. When Goat accidentally
crashes into Pig and refuses to apologize,
Pig breaks down (“SNORT SNORT
WAAAHHHHH!!!!”). In steps Dog, who
knows just what to do: let Pig cry it out,
and remind her that they’re friends (“We
eat lunch together every day”). Kindness
breaks the chain, and apologies and tokens
are offered all around before the friends
head to the pond for some fun. The animals,
rendered expressively by Bliss, learn what
kids already know and adults too easily
forget: the capacity to say “I’m sorry”—
and mean it—is no small thing. Ages
4–8. Author’s agent: Elena Giovinazzo,
Pippin Properties. Illustrator’s agent: Holly
McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Apr.)The Boy Who Was Fire
Marcus Kahle McCann, illus. by Zita Varga.
Pockets of... Publishing, $14.95 (28p)
ISBN 978-1-7331043-0-2
In this anthropomorphic tale, a fire born
to a “bright bolt of lightning and a tall,
beautiful tree” must find his way in the
world. After becoming too restless to stay
in the green arms of his mother, a boy made
of flame blazes his way through the wil-
derness, consuming “everything, anything
that got in his way.” When the forests,
cities, and towns catch wind of the destruc-
tion, they fear the child, who hides until he
grows up, petitioning a teetering, lonely
house with a feminine face to let him burn
in her hearth. Though the prose occasionally
feels formal (“And in time, the cities and
towns incorporated the house that was no
longer lonely”), the narrative is compelling,
particularly as it touches upon how fire can
spur habitat renewal. Graphic novel–style
digital illustrations by Varga evoke a deeper
mythology, resulting in a story that may
encourage young readers to consider
unintended mishaps as opportunities for
growth. Ages 5–9. (Self-published)Fiction
Blue Daisy
Helen Frost, illus. by Rob Shepperson. Holiday
House/Ferguson, $15.99 (96p) ISBN 978-0-
8234-4414-4
Intrigued by the unfamiliar filthy dog
trotting through their yards one summerThe Keeper of Wild Words
Brooke Smith, illus. by Madeline Kloepper. Chronicle, $18.99 (62p) ISBN 978-1-4521-7073-2
Intended to memorialize the dozens of nature words—acorn, minnow, violet, wren—
cut from a recent edition of The Oxford Junior Dictionary, Smith’s picture book follows
an intergenerational duo on a hunt to find various words’ real-world signifiers.
“Words disappear if we don’t share them when we talk,” Mimi says to her grand-
daughter Brook; dubbing her granddaughter “The Keeper of Wild Words,” Mimi
invites her on a scavenger hunt (“Bunches of VIOLETS spread underfoot”). The list is
long, and the two smell, taste, and observe their way through the outdoors. Digital and
mixed-media illustrations in saturated tints by Kloepper show the duo in a garden
and the woods beyond. Readers may not understand this story fully until they read
the author’s note by Smith, strangely placed at the end of the book; until then, it scans
more like a story of aging or dementia. Like The Lost Words before it, this may offer a
springboard for debate about the comparative value of words. Ages 5–8. (Mar.)Literally: Amazing Words and Where They Come From
Patrick Skipworth, illus. by Nicholas Stevenson. What on Earth, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-
912920-18-1
In this brief picture book compendium based largely on the 1989 Oxford English
Dictionary, Skipworth presents the etymologies of 12 words, including companion (Latin)
and safari (Swahili), that have made their way into the English language from all over
the world. An introduction explains the concept of etymology in an accessible tone
(“every word also contains a hidden story”). Each spread presents a word, its pronuncia-
tion, its language of origin, its meaning in English, and its original definition, paired
with a paragraph of additional context. Skipworth explains the lack of thematic
connection or perceptible organization with varying success (“I decided to focus on...
the origins of English words”) in an author’s note. Nevertheless, bold, digitally
textured spreads by Stevenson ensure readers will pore over every page, with engaging
typography seamlessly incorporated into each illustration (mummy is lettered in a long
cloth wrap). A color-coded map depicting large language families concludes this visu-
ally appealing resource for budding linguists. Ages 6–11. (May)Alphamaniacs: 26 Builders of Wonders of the Word
Paul Fleischman, illus. by Melissa Sweet. Candlewick Studio, $19.99 (160p) ISBN 978-0-
7636-9066-3
With a ringmaster’s rhetorical flourishes, Fleischman invites readers to step right up
and be dazzled by 26 “imaginers [and] tinkerers” who explore “the airy land of letters.”
Readers encounter Daniel Nussbaum’s PL8SPK (translating literary works using the
vocabulary of vanity license plates); Doris Cross’s artful erasures, which turn dictionary
pages into poems; Wompanoag Jessie Little Doe Baird’s heroic reclamation of a
vanished language; and Jean-Dominique Bauby’s astounding communications fol-
lowing a stroke, delivered with the flick of an eyelid. Other
subjects include a verbal prankster who has crafted a whole
novel without an E and an obsessive scanning texts for secret
messages. Each individual is given a brief chapter recounting
their word-related exploits, interleaved with colorful, collaged
illustrations by Sweet that look like stray pages from an artist’s
overstuffed sketchbook, incorporating relevant quotes and
amplifying Fleischman’s themes of abundance and possibility. A
unique amalgam, one that will charm many. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)Words, Words, Words
Picture books collect words, word histories, and wordsmiths.continued from pg. 72