SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: WITCH HAZEL
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.idleillustration.com/
CITY: Tempe
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 364
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in CA; married; children: two sons.
EDUCATION:Arizona State University, B.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author and illustrator of children’s books. DreamWorks Feature Animation Studio, Glendale, CA, former fine-line animator; animation artist for PBS Kids. Presenter at schools. Exhibitions: Work included in Original Art Show, Society of Illustrators—New York, 2008, 2014.
AWARDS:Juried Portfolio Competition winner, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), 2010; Notable Children’s Books designation and Caldecott Honor Book designation, both American Library Association, both 2014, both for Flora and the Flamingo; SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, 2014, for Tea Rex.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
A former animator at DreamWorks Studio, Molly Idle has earned recognition for the expressive and dynamic illustrations she creates using Prismacolor pencil. In addition to producing colorful images for stories by writers such as Kristyn Crow and Maripat Perkins, Idle has created several original picture books, among them Flora and the Flamingo, for which she received a Caldecott Medal honor book designation. Idle is also the author and illustrator of Tea Rex and its sequels, which depict a young girl’s exploits with her dinosaur companions.
The richness of the Christian faith, with its many biblical tales, is the basis for both Nighty Night, Baby Jesus: A Noisy Nativity and Nighty Night, Noah: An Ark Alphabet, the latter of which teaches alphabet and counting skills as well as a classic bedtime prayer in which Noah says good night to each and every creature on his ark. All the creatures of the barnyard meet the newborn baby Jesus in Nighty Night, Baby Jesus, and here Idle’s depiction of creatures such as Goat, Sheep, and Cat evoke “Disney cartoons” due to her use of “saturated colors and rounded shapes,” according to School Library Journal critic Eva Mitnick. Noting the appeal of Nighty Night, Baby Jesus among the toddler set, a Kirkus Reviews writer added that Idle’s “rhyming text [is] … short and pleasant without being saccharine.”
An amusing encounter between an awkward young girl and a graceful wading bird is captured in Flora and the Flamingo, a wordless, lift-the-flap picture book. By earnestly mimicking the movements of a lone flamingo, Flora—outfitted in a bathing suit, swim cap, and flippers—gradually earns the admiration of the elegant creature, leading to an impromptu dance lesson. Flora and the Flamingo “is cinematic, comedic, and balletic, with remarkable dynamic pacing facilitated by those ingenious flaps,” wrote Elissa Gershowitz in Horn Book, and a Publishers Weekly contributor stated that “Idle’s crisp, confident drafting produces a reading experience akin to flipping through a series of animation cells.”
A companion volume, Flora and the Penguin, was described as “eloquent and irresistible” by Susan Weitz in School Library Journal. In this tale, Flora engages in an ice-skating duet with an aquatic seabird, but their budding friendship is threatened when the penguin dives below the icy water’s surface. In Flora and the Peacocks, Idle’s young protagonist finds herself at the center of a conflict involving two avian dance partners. “Design, engineering, and art intersect to deliver a virtuoso interpretation of the pitfalls and pleasures of triads,” noted a writer in Kirkus Reviews. In her critique of Flora and the Penguin, Gershowitz applauded the “graceful, rhythmic pace” of Idle’s whimsical tale.
Idle continues the Flora series with Flora and the Ostrich: An Opposites Book and Flora and the Chicks: A Counting Book. In Flora and the Ostrich, Flora is a dancer wearing a brightly colored, frilly romper. Opposite her is an ostrich, whose own plumage is a counterpart to the child’s clothing. The two interact, revealing the meanings of nine opposite words: hello and goodbye, give and take, and apart and together, among others. A Publishers Weekly writer called the book “playful” and “emotive.” Flora and the Chicks finds Flora watching a nest of eggs hatch. As more chicks make their way out of the eggs, Flora has to count them while wrangling the nest full of fluffy yellow birds to keep them from running around. The book helps children learn their numbers and counting skills up to the number ten.
A primer on proper behavior, Tea Rex depicts young Cordelia’s attempt to host a party attended by a most unusual guest: a very large and ungainly dinosaur. “Idle makes full use of the ironic juxtaposition of meat-eater against tea etiquette, mining the humor of it for all it’s worth,” a contributor reported in Kirkus Reviews. Citing the colored-pencil illustrations as a highlight of the story, Booklist reviewer Daniel Kraus deemed Tea Rex “a fine example of how words and pictures can lock horns to charming effect.”
In Camp Rex narrator Cordelia gets more than she bargained for when she takes her dinosaur pals on an excursion into the woods, while in Sea Rex she offers helpful tips on enjoying a day at the beach with a gaggle of prehistoric creatures. Discussing the first story, a Publishers Weekly critic asserted that Idle’s “deadpan writing and careful compositions work in tandem for maximum comic impact.” According to a Kirkus Reviews writer, the colorful “tongue-in-cheek illustrations are the stars” of Sea Rex.
Idle turns to mermaid life with her self-illustrated picture books Pearl and Coral. In the first title, young Pearl is disappointed when her mother gives her the seemingly insignificant task of caring for a grain of sand, but when it gradually evolves into a proverbial pearl, she realizes how powerful her efforts can be. Praising the “stunning watery spreads” in shades of colored pencil, a Kirkus Reviews writer called Pearl a “fable about patience and perseverance” that offers the “gentle, glowing lesson that even the smallest efforts can lead to large, even environmental results.”
Coral stars three mermaids—Coral, Filly, and Manta—who together take care of the coral reefs and all the fish, manta rays, and even sharks who live there. One day Coral finds an empty hollow in the reef and decides to forbid her friends to enter, in a fit of selfishness that leaves the reef bleached and lifeless. When Coral realizes her mistake and welcomes her friends back, the reef fills with color again. A Kirkus Reviews writer observed that, like the book’s characters, “Words and pictures also cooperate to deliver a gentle but important lesson.” Writing in Library Journal, Megan Kilgallen called Coral “a vibrant offering with an environmentally friendly message about collaboration and the interconnectedness that exists in nature and life.”
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Idle’s 2022 self-illustrated picture book, Witch Hazel, playfully explores the passage of time through the companionship of a young girl named Hilda and the older Witch Hazel. Every season brings chores, such as sweeping in the spring or dusting when summer or fall arrive. And as the pair work, Witch Hazel reflects on her own life, telling Hilda stories of her transformation from a child who only wanted to play, to a beautiful young woman. But as winter approaches, Hazel now becomes bedridden and dies, and it is left to Hilda to clean the house and to Hilda who begins to tell her own tales. A Kirkus Reviews critic had a varied assessment of Witch Hazel, calling it “[c]alming yet unfinished.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer, however, had higher praise, lauding the “expressive white and graphite lines on warm brown paper,” and further noting that the story’s “attention to memory and loss tenderly shows how the capacity to tell stories is passed on.”
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As an illustrator, Idle’s artwork has brought to life stories by Jeannie St. John Taylor and Lynn Gordon, as well as illuminating the well-known American spiritual “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” In Taylor’s story for Penguin’s Special Christmas Tree, which finds a dapper bird angling for Santa’s approval of his tree-decorating skills, Idle’s vividly colored images gain special energy through their “movement” and her ability to “manipulate … perspective in comical ways,” according to Resource Links critic Isobel Lang. As Eva Mitnick wrote in School Library Journal, the “color-saturated” illustrations Idle crafts for Penguin’s Special Christmas Tree “are whimsical.”
Idle has also provided the artwork for Crow’s Zombelina, about a ghoulish youngster with a penchant for the ballet, as well as for its sequel, Zombelina Dances the Nutcracker. Her “colored-pencil illustrations are bursting with details, facial expressions, wonderfully slightly spooky touches, and when appropriate, love,” Catherine Callegari remarked in a School Library Journal review of Zombelina. In Rodeo Red, a western-themed tale of sibling rivalry written by Maripat Perkins, the artist “wields her pistol—sorry, pencil—with aplomb, creating soft, inviting illustrations that truly set the scene,” according to Booklist contributor Julia Smith.
In Poppy Louise Is Not Afraid of Anything, written by Jenna McCarthy, Poppy Louise Littleton is a big fan of monsters, bugs, and other things that scare other people and creep them out. She wants a tarantula for a pet. She thinks vampires are cute and loves ghost stories. Climbing up on a friend’s roof doesn’t seem like a big deal to her. It seems that there is nothing that can scare the stalwart Poppy, but her little sister Petunia and her other friends may soon find out how far Poppy’s steely nerves will take her. A mission to rescue a young pal’s rocket ship from a tree goes wrong, and Poppy realizes that her bravery, while admirable, may not help her in every situation. A Kirkus Reviews writer remarked, “Idle’s illustrations provide the needed energy to propel the page turns.”
Idle has also illustrated a pair of books by Lisa Wheeler, People Don’t Bite People and People Share with People. The former title is a tongue-in-cheek instructional manual for kids about what is okay to bite, like pizza, and what is not, like one’s mother. In School Library Journal, Clara Hendricks observed that the “wide-eyed, retro children jump off the page with ultra bright pastels.” Horn Book reviewer Elissa Gershowitz noted that “simple rounded shapes in saturated hues, surrounded by dimension-giving, drop-shadow outlines, keep the pictures clean, lighthearted, and easy to follow.” People Share with People helps encourage young ones to share everything from toys to treats to love. A Publishers Weekly reviewer observed that “the cast of roly-poly round-headed kids is fun to follow … and the vignettes, set against backgrounds of deep, gradient colors, always feel more cajoling than scolding.”
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Idle teams with writer Drew Daywalt for the 2021 picture book, Twinkle Twinkle Little Kid, featuring young Clyde, who makes a wish on a star before bedtime. He is sad that his wish does not immediately come true, and goes to sleep. However, Clyde awakens in surprise to discover the star has actually appeared in his bedroom and now makes a wish on him. Clyde tries to figure out what the star has wished for and finally discovers that both he and the star have wished for a friend. Writing in School Library Journal, Jessica Ko praised “Idle’s dream-like pencil art, rendered in deep purple tones, a perfect fit for the bedtime story plot.” Booklist contributor Becca Worthington also lauded the artwork, commenting that Idle’s “soft, gently curving swoops and preciously rounded children, and the luminous glow that Star emits on each page is spellbinding.” Likewise, a Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that the “real magic is in colored-pencil artwork by Idle … which has the visual drama and framing of classic animation.”
Idle also provides illustration for the 2022 picture book, I Don’t Care, written by Julie Fogliano. The book playfully examines what best friends really are about. Two best friends decide on the things they really do care about, and these do not include such things as how well you draw or if you dance funny. Instead, they care about playing fair and about being sad or worried, or having a picnic or playing together. This book takes the idea of friendship to heart, with illustrations provided not only by Idle, but also by her best friend, Juana Martinez-Neal. Booklist reviewer Lucinda Whitehurst noted of this collaboration: “Using their favorite colors, teal and yellow, with graphite, the linocut illustrations seamlessly expand on Fogliano’s narrative.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer also commended the “soft graphite strokes and linocut highlights in teal and yellow” the two illustrators employ to draw the two young children.
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 1, 2013, Daniel Kraus, review of Tea Rex, p. 88; February 15, 2015, Julia Smith, review of Rodeo Red, p. 88; March 15, 2020, Maryann Owen, review of Coral, p. 69; July 1, 2021, Becca Worthington, review of Twinkle Twinkle Little Kid, p. 91; September 1, 2022, review of I Don’t Care, p. 80.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, May, 2014, review of Camp Rex, p. 460.
Horn Book, July-August, 2013, Elissa Gershowitz, review of Flora and the Flamingo, p. 104; November-December, 2014, Elissa Gershowitz, review of Flora and the Penguin, p. 70; March-April, 2015, Elissa Gershowitz, review of Rodeo Red, p. 82; July-August, 2015, Elissa Gershowitz, review of Sea Rex, p. 114; November-December, 2015, Katie Bircher, review of Zombelina Dances the Nutcracker, p. 55; March-April, 2018, Elissa Gershowitz, review of People Don’t Bite People, p. 74.
Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2009, review of Nighty Night, Baby Jesus: A Noisy Nativity; January 15, 2013, review of Flora and the Flamingo; March 15, 2013, review of Tea Rex; August 1, 2013, review of Zombelina; March 1, 2014, review of Camp Rex; September 1, 2014, review of Flora and the Penguin; March 15, 2015, review of Sea Rex; September 1, 2015, review of Zombelina Dances the Nutcracker; March 15, 2016, review of Flora and the Peacocks; February 1, 2017, review of Poppy Louise Is Not Afraid of Anything; February 15, 2018, review of People Don’t Bite People; July 15, 2018, review of Pearl; June 1, 2019, review of People Share with People; March 1, 2020, review of Coral; August 15, 2022, review of Witch Hazel.
Publishers Weekly, January 21, 2013, review of Flora and the Flamingo, p. 64; March 17, 2014, review of Camp Rex, p. 82; January 5, 2015, review of Rodeo Red, p. 70; September 14, 2015, review of Zombelina Dances the Nutcracker, p. 76; February 3, 2017, review of Poppy Louise Is Not Afraid of Anything; September 11, 2017, review of Flora and the Ostrich: An Opposites Book; May 27, 2019, review of People Share with People, p. 89; June 7, 2021, review of Twinkle Twinkle Little Kid, p 57; July 25, 2022, review of Witch Hazel, p. 77; September 26, 2022, review of I Don’t Care, p. 65.
Resource Links, December, 2007, Isobel Lang, review of Penguin’s Special Christmas Tree, p. 12.
School Library Journal, October, 2007, Eva Mitnick, review of Penguin’s Special Christmas Tree, p. 104; October, 2009, Eva Mitnick, review of Nighty Night, Baby Jesus, p. 81; April, 2013, Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, review of Flora and the Flamingo, p. 132; June, 2013, Catherine Callegari, review of Zombelina, p. 80; November, 2014, Susan Weitz, review of Flora and the Penguin, p. 86; April, 2015, Linda L. Walkins, review of Sea Rex, p. 128; February, 2015, Chelsea Couillard-Smith, review of Rodeo Red, p. 75; April, 2016, Briana Moore, review of Flora and the Peacocks, p. 132; March, 2018, Clara Hendricks, review of People Don’t Bite People, p. 76; September, 2019, Maryann H. Owen, review of People Share with People, p. 109; April, 2020, Megan Kilgallen, review of Coral, p. 115; August, 2021, Jessica Ko, review of Twinkle Twinkle Little Kid, p. 68.
ONLINE
Abingdon Press website, http://www.abingdonpress.com/ (January 2, 2018), author profile.
Author Village, https://theauthorvillage.com/ (October 13, 2020), author biography.
Horn Book, http://www.hbook.com/ (October 13, 2014), Roger Sutton, author interview.
Mile High Reading, https://readingwithmrteut.wordpress.com/ (April 25, 2018), “People Don’t Bite People: Interview with Lisa Wheeler and Molly Idle.”
Molly Idle website, http://idleillustration.com (January 9, 2023).
Picture Book Month, http://www.picturebookmonth.com/ (November 11, 2015), author profile.
Publishers Weekly, http://www.publishersweekly.com (September 9, 2014), Antonia Saxon, author interview.*
Molly Idle
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Molly Schaar Idle is an American children's book illustrator, author and animator. In 2014, she was awarded a Caldecott Honor for her picture book Flora and the Flamingo.[1]
Contents
1 Life and career
2 Selected works
2.1 Flora series
2.2 Rex series
3 References
Life and career
Molly Idle was born in Los Angeles, California and moved with her family to Tempe, Arizona when she was six years old.[2] She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Arizona State University.[3] After college, she began her career as an animator for DreamWorks, working as an inbetweener and breakdown artist[4][5] for five years. She worked on the films The Road to El Dorado, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.[6] She also was an animation artist for PBS Kids.[3] She left DreamWorks after the studio transitioned to computer animation.[7]
Idle's illustrated book, Emma's Gift, was published in 2003. Between 2004 and 2007, her self-illustrated books were published as part of the In God We Trust series of fiction.[3]
Idle began a wordless picture book series, starting with the publishing of her book Flora and the Flamingo in 2013. The book received a Caldecott Honor in 2014.[3]
Her drawing technique uses a layering of color pencil drawings.[4]
Selected works
Zombelina (2013), illustrator[8]
Rodeo Red (2015), illustrator; written by Maripat Perkins[9]
Coral (2020)
Flora series
Flora and the Flamingo (2013)
Flora and the Penguin (2014)
Flora and the Peacocks (2016)
Flora and the Ostrich: An Opposites Book (2017)
Flora and the Chicks: A Counting Book (2017)[3]
Rex series
Tea Rex (2013)
Camp Rex (2014)
Sea Rex (2015)
Santa Rex (2017)
Pearl (2018)[3]
Molly Idle is the author and illustrator of the Caldecott Honor-winning picture book Flora and the Flamingo (and the rest of the Flora books too). She’s also the creator of the Rex series (which includes Tea Rex and Sea Rex), the mermaid tales Pearl and Coral, and most recently, Witch Hazel.
Prior to pursuing a career in picture books, Molly worked as an artist for DreamWorks Feature Animation studios in California, but has since set up shop in the sunny state of Arizona, where she works and lives with her marvelous, multigenerational family which includes: her brilliant husband, two mercurial sons, two remarkable parents, two snugly cats and an inseparable pair of lovebirds.
When she’s not making mischief with her boys, or watching old Technicolor musicals, Molly can be found in her workshop with a pencil in one hand and a cup of espresso in the other- scribbling away on her next book!
QUOTE: “Idle’s dream-like pencil art, rendered in deep purple tones, a perfect fit for the bedtime story plot.”
DAYWALT, Drew. Twinkle Twinkle Little Kid. illus. by Molly Idle. 40p. Philomel. Aug. 2021. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780399171321.
K-Gr 2--This starts like many bedtime stories: There's a bright star in the sky and a white boy named Clyde decides to wish on it. Dejected that his wish doesn't immediately come true, he goes to sleep until the very star he wished on visits his bedroom window and starts to make a wish on him! From there, the writing style shifts into Daywalt's signature humor, as Clyde tries to guess what the star might have wished for. Finally, the star and Clyde discover that both of them had wished for a friend. The ending, while sweet, feels a little abrupt, perhaps because of a mashup of two writing styles that is not entirely cohesive. The early pacing and plot development is suitable for preschoolers, while the writing style ("Don't judge me! I'm not the weirdo climbing in people's windows!") seems aimed at an elementary audience. Tying it together is Idle's dream-like pencil art, rendered in deep purple tones, a perfect fit for the bedtime story plot. VERDICT This entertaining friendship tale is a solid choice for a mixed-age read-aloud.--Jessica Ko, Los Angeles P.L.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
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Ko, Jessica. "DAYWALT, Drew. Twinkle Twinkle Little Kid." School Library Journal, vol. 67, no. 8, Aug. 2021, p. 68. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A670397905/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0806064a. Accessed 17 Dec. 2022.
Quote: “real magic is in colored-pencil artwork by Idle … which has the visual drama and framing of classic animation.”
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Kid
Drew Daywalt, illus. by Molly Idle. Philomel, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-399-17132-1
After wishing a "secret wish" on a single star in the sky, tan-skinned Clyde goes to bed, only to be startled awake by the very same star, now in his bedroom and wishing on him. Pale, radiant Star defies gravity and has a sparkly, multihued aura, but otherwise resembles a human kid in both outfit (footie pj's) and attitude ("Jeez! You have to scream like that?... You completely freaked me out!"). When Clyde is informed. that he has the power to grant Star's wish, he has to discern what the secret desire is--and, following a series of vignettes set against deep purple tones that evoke the wee hours, it's eventually revealed that both characters have yearned and wished for the same thing: a friend. Though the dialogue can be long-winded, and the sum-up (the two "were never ever lonely again") seems a touch dubious, Daywalt (The Day the Crayons Quit) succeeds in lightening the heavy topic of loneliness with plenty of breezy banter. The real magic is in colored-pencil artwork by Idle (the Flora and Her Feathered Friends series), which has the visual drama and framing of classic animation, as well as a captivating celestial protagonist, who floats through the air with gymnastic nimbleness. Ages 4-8. (Aug.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Kid." Publishers Weekly, vol. 268, no. 23, 7 June 2021, pp. 57+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A665461586/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c9b06a05. Accessed 17 Dec. 2022.
QUOTE: “soft, gently curving swoops and preciously rounded children, and the luminous glow that Star emits on each page is spellbinding.”
Twinkle Twinkle Little Kid. By Drew Daywalt. Illus. by Molly Idle. Aug. 2021. 40p. Philomel, $17.99 (9780399171321). PreS-Gr. 2.
Everyone knows that children can wish on stars, but did you know stars also wish on little children? Clyde often makes wishes, but one night Star enters his room with her own wish, which he must guess in order to grant it. It's not a game of checkers, a two-person tent, a Frisbee, or walkie-talkies. All of those things, Star explains, need a second person. Finally, Clyde realizes that Star wished for a friend, which is what he has also been wanting. The ending, although both predictable and somewhat overdone, is nonetheless sweet. And while the tone of the story is overall a bit dark (Clyde and Star don't speak to each other very kindly at times, and it is missing Daywalt's trademark humor), it is still a work of art. It is sumptuously illustrated in twilight shades of plum and violet with Idle's recognizable soft, gently curving swoops and preciously rounded children, and the luminous glow that Star emits on each page is spellbinding. --Becca Worthington
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Worthington, Becca. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Kid." Booklist, vol. 117, no. 21, 1 July 2021, p. 91. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A669809553/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e390e9eb. Accessed 17 Dec. 2022.
QUOTE: “expressive white and graphite lines on warm brown paper,” “attention to memory and loss tenderly shows how the capacity to tell stories is passed on.”
Molly Idle. Little, Brown, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-316-54113-8
Working in expressive white and graphite lines on warm brown paper, Caldecott Honoree Idle draws Hazel, an elderly woman in a cape and a pointed hat, and Hilda, a girl clad in overalls, throughout the seasons. As Hazel and Hilda sweep the front porch one spring day--the paper background provides the characters' skin tone--Hazel shares a remembrance of herself as a girl. Using swooping, balletic curves, Idle renders Hazel's memories via lively, misty white images that unfold in and around the present-day duo: a young Hazel practices flying on her swing, a copy of Peter Pan in her hand. In the summer, Hazel, now shown in memory as a young woman, frees a songbird: "I loved him too much to keep him in a cage." And in the fall, a more adult Hazel in a splendid ball gown and live boa swirls and twirls. By winter, though, Hazel has taken to her bed, and soon becomes a solace-offering memory herself. The story's fantasy elements add little more than aesthetic to this tale of intergenerational love, but its attention to memory and loss tenderly shows how the capacity to tell stories is passed on. Ages 4-8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"Witch Hazel." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 31, 25 July 2022, p. 77. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A713173016/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f39b0549. Accessed 17 Dec. 2022.
QUOTE: "Calming yet unfinished."
Idle, Molly WITCH HAZEL Little, Brown (Children's None) $18.99 10, 11 ISBN: 978-0-316-54113-8
Two friends tell stories and say goodbye.
Hazel, an older woman, and Hilda, a girl, share their lives--chores, tales, and more. In heavily sepia-tinted spreads, showers of glittery white illustrate the different stories that Hazel, clad in a pointy black hat, tells Hilda. As they sweep the steps and play piano, Hazel talks about her cat, her bird, and her youth as the "belle of the ball," while these yarns are unraveled through white sparkles that coalesce into visions. Portraits on the wall of the ivy-covered house offer more clues. Eventually, Hazel takes to bed and then dies--a moment that is handled subtly, a story told "to the end" as a window goes from light to dark. Wiser readers will understand what is being conveyed, while younger or less experienced audiences may need that transition explained to them. The sentences aim for open-ended but too often land on vague, with ellipses carrying a bit too much weight. There are a lot of questions left: Is Hazel a witch, as the title implies, and if so, what, besides the hat, makes her one? Are Hazel and Hilda family or friends or neighbors? Will Hilda make a young friend of her own? Read aloud, this will invoke a quiet, peaceful mood but leave readers with some degree of dissatisfaction. Both characters have skin the color of the sepia pages. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Calming yet unfinished. (Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Idle, Molly: WITCH HAZEL." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Aug. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A713722538/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a1840f74. Accessed 17 Dec. 2022.
QUOTE: “Using their favorite colors, teal and yellow, with graphite, the linocut illustrations seamlessly expand on Fogliano’s narrative.”
I Don't Care. By Julie Fogliano. Illus. by Molly Idle and Juana Martinez-Neal. Oct. 2022.40p. Holiday/Neal Porter, $18.99 (9780823443451). K-Gr. 2.
What matters most to best friends? It's not your nose or clothes; it's not your hair, your house, or what you eat for lunch. Using a lighthearted tone, two friends reject the outward indicators that many people use to judge others. Do you like polka dots or floral prints? Do you dance funny? When you paint a cow, does it look like a bunny? Best friends do not care. They do care about playing fair, about wishing and singing, about feeling sad, worried, or mad. Best friends like to play together, catch frogs carefully, or have a picnic. Fogliano's sprightly, rhythmic text sets a fun tone for exploring what really matters in friendship. While effective picture books grow from the combining of words and images, this book takes the collaboration a step further by drawing on the talents of real-life best friends and Caldecott honorees Idle and Martinez-Neal. In humorous notes, the two describe their artistic process and shared design of each page of the book. Using their favorite colors, teal and yellow, with graphite, the linocut illustrations seamlessly expand on Fogliano's narrative. The result is a warm, loving celebration of how to be a friend, and a successful artistic experiment. --Lucinda Whitehurst
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Whitehurst, Lucinda. "I Don't Care." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 1, 1 Sept. 2022, pp. 80+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A718452349/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=7a59ed6d. Accessed 17 Dec. 2022.
QUOTE: “soft graphite strokes and linocut highlights in teal and yellow”
I Don't Care
Julie Fogliano, illus. by Molly Idle and Juana Martinez-Neal. Holiday House/Porter, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8234-4345-1
Accompanying fervent text by Fogliano (My Best Friend) that tumbles forth in a burst of confessions, friends Idle (Witch Hazel) and Martinez-Neal (A Perfect Fit) team up to create a visual story about friendship. "I really don't care what you think of my hair/ or my eyes or my toes or my nose," begin rhyming lines, running through an ample list of attributes that the book seems to portray as superficialities. With soft graphite strokes and linocut highlights in teal and yellow, the illustrators draw two young children, portrayed with skin the color of the paper, who each sport blunt-cut hair and sturdy boots. They're leaning against the same tree, arms crossed, looking studiously away from each other. With every line, though, their hard feelings thaw, and they're soon playing together on the page, as the litany turns from "don't"s to "do"s and each speaker voices what's at stake in their friendship: "I really do care/ that you always play fair/ and you don't change the rules/ when I'm winning." While not every reader will be comfortable with a friend who offers sidelong critiques ("I really don't care if your lunches smell weird"), the alternating speakers' loyalty ("and I care that we're friends/ and I care that we're true"), and images of shared experience following conflict, add warmth to this testament to faithful companionship. Ages 3-6. Agents: (for Fogliano and Idle) Steven Malk, Writers House; (for MartinezNeal) Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel, Full Circle Literary. (Nov.)
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"I Don't Care." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 40, 26 Sept. 2022, p. 65. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A721347765/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e30b4e77. Accessed 17 Dec. 2022.