SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: Sleepy Snuggles
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.charlessantoso.com/
CITY: Sydney
STATE:
COUNTRY: Australia
NATIONALITY:
LAST VOLUME: SATA 326
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Male.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Illustrator. Animal Logic, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, concept artist/art director. Exhibitions: Work has been exhibited in Sydney, Australia, and internationally in North America and France.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals, including Tiny Pencil.
SIDELIGHTS
Charles Santoso is an illustrator who began drawing at a young age, particularly frogs. His career as an illustrator stemmed from his love of storytelling, especially as told in movies and books. “As I realised that I’m better in telling stories with pictures, it was a natural path for me to choose—I also enjoy the process of making images which is a bonus,” Santoso noted in an interview for Trade Your Talent. Santoso primarily draws from day-to-day life for his ideas. In an interview for the Tiny Pencil, Santoso noted: “I try to be honest to myself on what I like and I don’t like, and try to cultivate my personal taste, while opening up to possible new ideas or knowledge. These basic elements, combined with a specific topic and a tiny dose of fantasy would give several ideas in my mind.”
In addition to his full-time job at an animation studio in Australia, Santoso is an illustrator of children’s books and novels. Max Makes a Cake, by Michelle Edwards, is about a young Jewish boy named Max who is proud of his knowledge of the Four Questions for Passover, which he knows in Hebrew and English. The holiday story finds Max trying to bake a Passover cake for Mama while the babysitter sleeps. “Santoso’s realistic digital renderings of Max’s face capture the expressions of one determined little boy,” wrote Roxanne Burg in School Library Journal. The Best Friend Battle, by Lindsay Eyre, revolves around a little girl whose best friend is stolen from her by, of all else, a boy. “Santoso’s b&w illustrations do a fine job of playing up her emotional turmoil,” noted a Publishers Weekly contributor. In Jill Ratzan’s Spy Guy: The Not-So-Secret Agent, a young boy plays at being a spy and seeks advice from his father on how to be a good one. “Santoso’s illustrations are the highlight of this amusing, if light, picture book,” wrote a School Library Journal contributor.
A zombie who prefers peanut butter to brains is the protagonist of Joe McGee’s Peanut Butter & Brains: A Zombie Culinary Tale, which kickstarted a series. Horn Book contributor Katie Bircher noted that Santoso’s illustrations “portray zombies who are more cute than scary, and full of personality.” Sean Ferrell’s I Don’t Like Koala concerns a little boy who dislikes a stuffed animal whose features seem more threatening than friendly. “Santoso’s sly pencil illustrations, colored digitally in a mostly blue, gray and brown palette, resemble animation with shading and texturizing lines,” wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Regarding his illustrations for Sean Ferrell’s The Snurtch, about a little girl and the cuddly monster occupying her seat in school, School Library Journal contributor Kristy Pasquariello wrote that “Santoso’s delightful depictions of wild-eyed monsters wreaking havoc in school will delight preschoolers.”
Caron Levis’s Ida, Always focuses on two polar bears living in the Central Park Zoo. Santos’s “slightly anthropomorphic bears convey a wealth of feeling through their expressive eyes, smiles, and body language,” commented a Publishers Weekly contributor. Elana K. Arnold is the author of A Boy Called Bat, another series opener, about an autistic boy and a baby skunk his veterinarian mother brings home to care for after the skunk’s mother dies. Santoso’s illustrations “add warmth” to the tale noted Juliet Morefield in School Library Journal.
[open new]Santoso often helps authors keep their tales interesting. Penguin & Tiny Shrimp Don’t Do Bedtime, by Cate Berry, finds the title pair’s refusal to go to bed leading to adventurous escapades, a sing-along, and maybe a yawn or two in the end. A Publishers Weekly reviewer enjoyed how Santoso’s digital artwork, buoyed by “comical images of the wide-eyed, open-mouthed title characters … energizes Berry’s tactically understated text, often wryly turning it on its head.” Julie Falatko’s No Boring Stories is a postmodern picture book about Bunny’s curious introduction to a creative cohort called the International Society for Writers of Odd and Weird during a round of collective storytelling. With the fluffy illustrations giving way to meta-commentary about stories featuring cute bunnies, a Kirkus Reviews writer admired Santoso’s “incisive designs” and appreciated how he “differentiates the dual storylines by using earth tones for ‘reality’ and a more vibrant palette for the invented action.”
Parenting is a theme in stories like Ame Dyckman’s Dandy, a fable about perfect suburban lawns and a girl named Sweetie who adopts a dandelion as her best friend, to her father’s consternation—and ultimate submission. A Kirkus Reviews writer proclaimed that Santoso’s illustrations “are a riot, both Daddy’s obsession and Sweetie’s sweetness and innocence coming through loud and clear.” Dragons Get Colds Too, by Rebecca Roan, gives helpful, upbeat instructions for caring for a dragon with a cold, such as caution over flammable tissues. A Kirkus Reviews writer observed that Santoso’s “tongue-in-cheek digital illustrations belie the easygoing tone of these notes” as a girl struggles with a snotty, toddler-like dragon.
Kobi Yamada presents several picture books foregrounding positivity in his “Add More Goodness” series, including Finding Muchness: How to Add More Life to Life. A little duckling—whose yellow beak and feet stand out against the grays—sets an example as the text exhorts young readers to figure out what they love, tap their creativity, muster determination, and fulfill the potential of their lives. A Kirkus Reviews writer affirmed that “Santoso’s engaging little duckling … acts out Yamada’s suggestions with humor and gusto.”
Santoso excels at stirring sympathy for animal kind. Caron Levis’s Feathers Together is about a pair of storks who must wistfully part when one gets injured and rescued by a kindly human but cannot migrate that winter. With a reunion in the stars, a Kirkus Reviews writer noted that Santoso’s “digital illustrations give marvelous personality to each stork, their every emotion evident and so relatable for readers.” A baby elephant with weak legs gets help from his sister in Mighty Muddy Us, another compassionate story by Levis. A Kirkus Reviews writer enjoyed how Santoso’s “dusty, parched, orange-colored scenes give way to joyful water splashing, showing the many, ever-changing conditions elephants face.”
Wombat Underground: A Wildlife Survival Story, by Sarah L. Thomson, tells of how animals flee and take shelter from a bushfire in Australia, including a wombat who burrows underground. A Kirkus Reviews writer noted that Santoso’s “warmly colored illustrations are splendid, providing realistic depictions of the animals and the landscapes surrounding them.” A quixotic forest quest is at the heart of Dear Duck, Please Come!, in which a letter from Rabbit about a lost tooth prompts Duck to muster a posse and search high and low—in vain. Yet it turns out Rabbit just wanted to celebrate the milestone. Observing that Santoso’s digital drawings resemble “velvety oil pastels,” a Publishers Weekly reviewer delighted in the “moments of sly visual humor” during the quest and how the compositions “leverage the landscape in a variety of playful ways.”[close new]
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, July 1, 2013, Angela Leeper, review of The Glass Puzzle, p. 74; January 1, 2014, Connie Fletcher, review of Max Makes a Cake, p. 120; February 15, 2015, Martha Edmundson, review of The Best Friend Battle, p. 85; March 15, 2015, Kathleen McBroom, review of I Don’t Like Koala, p. 78; May 1, 2015, Connie Fletcher review of Spy Guy: The Not-So-Secret Agent, p. 56; January 1, 2016, Maggie Reagan, review of Ida, Always, p. 97; July 1, 2016, Julia Smith, review of The Snurtch, p. 61; February 15, 2017, Briana Shemroske, review of A Boy Called Bat, p. 79; July 1, 2017, Jennifer Barnes, review of Wishtree, p. 61; August 1, 2023, Connie Fletcher, review of I Will Read to You, p. 59.
Horn Book, March-April, 2015. Tanya D. Auger, review of I Don’t Like Koala, p. 74; September-October, 2015, Katie Bircher, review of Peanut Butter & Brains: A Zombie Culinary Tale, p. 69; July-August, 2016. Tanya D. Auger, review of The Snurtch, p. 113; November-December, 2022, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Odder, p. 78.
Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2013, review of The Glass Puzzle; March 1, 2014, review of Max Makes a Cake; December 15, 2014, review of The Best Friend Battle; February 1, 2015, review of I Don’t Like Koala; February 15, 2015, review of Spy Guy; August 1, 2015, review of Peanut Butter & Brains, December 1, 2015, review of Ida, Always; May 15, 2016, review of The Snurtch; December 15, 2016, review of A Boy Called Bat; July 15, 2017, review of Peanut Butter & Aliens: A Cosmic Culinary Tale; October 1, 2018, review of No Boring Stories!; October 15, 2018, review of Dragons Get Colds Too; April 1, 2019, review of Dandy; September 1, 2019, review of Peanut Butter & Santa Claus: A Zombie Culinary Tale; February 15, 2020, review of This Way, Charlie; May 1, 2021, review of Finding Muchness: How to Add More Life to Life; November 1, 2021, review of Wombat Underground: A Wildlife Survival Story; August 15, 2022, review of Feathers Together; August 15, 2023, review of Dear Unicorn; October 1, 2023, review of Mighty Muddy Us; August 1, 2024, review of Sleepy Snuggles.
New York Times Book Review, September 10, 2017, Dominique Browning, review of Wishtree, p. 25; October 3, 2021, Nathaniel Rich, review of Willodeen, p. 22.
Publishers Weekly, January 19, 2015, review of The Best Friend Battle, p. 81; February, 2, 2015, review of I Don’t Like Koala, p. 59; March 2, 2015, review of Spy Guy, p. 82; May 18, 2015, review of Peanut Butter & Brains, p. 84.November 30, 2015, review of Ida, Always, p. 60; December 2, 2016, review of Ida, Always, p. 32; December 2, 2016, review of The Snurtch, p. 40; January 23, 2017, review of A Boy Called Bat, p. 80; July 10, 2017, review of Wishtree, p. 89; March 19, 2018, review of Penguin & Tiny Shrimp Don’t Do Bedtime, p. 73; October 14, 2024, review of Dear Duck, Please Come!, p. 85.
School Library Journal, October, 2013, Genevieve Feldman, “review of The Glass Puzzle, p. 98; December, 2013, Roxanne Burg, review of Max Makes a Cake, p. 92; January, 2015, Annette Herbert, review of The Best Friend Battle, p. 73; February, 2015, Jill Ratzan, review of Spy Guy, p. 81; September, 2015, Christopher Lassen, review of Peanut Butter & Brains, p. 108; January, 2016. Mahnaz Dar, review of Ida, Always, p. 74; July, 2016. Kristy Pasquariello, review of The Snurtch, p. 54; November, 2016. Juliet Morefield, review of A Boy Called Bat, p. 8; November, 2017, Juliet Morefield, review of Bat and the Waiting Game, p. 70.
ONLINE
Andrea Skyberg website, http://andreaskyberg.com/ (August 31, 2015), Andrea Skyberg, “Charles Santoso’s Studio Tour.”
Charles Santoso website, https://www.charlessantoso.com (March 7, 2025).
Children’s Book Review, https://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/ (March 7, 2025), Bianca Schulze, “Illustration Inspiration: Charles Santoso, Illustrator of This Way, Charlie.”
Kid Can Doodle, http://www.kidcandoodle.com/ (October 6, 2016), “Drawn Out: Charles Santoso.”
KidLit411, http://www.kidlit411.com/ (June 16, 2017), “Illustrator Spotlight: Charles Santoso.”
Tiny Pencil, http://tinypencil.com/ (December 30, 2017), “Charles Santoso on Mega Characters, Miniature Love and the Challenge of Random Words.”
Trade Your Talent, http://tradeyourtalent.blogspot.com/ (December 9, 2012), “Charlest Santoso ‘I Try to Be in Their World.’”*
Charles Santoso loves drawing little things in his little journal and dreaming about funny, wondrous stories. He gathers inspiration from his childhood memories and curiosities he discovers in his everyday travels.
He has illustrated several picture books, including The Snurtch and I don’t Like Koala – both written by Sean Ferrell, Ida, Always – written By Caron Levis, which was mentioned in the New York Times as “an example of children’s books at their best”, I Will Read to You – written by Gideon Sterer and Dear Unicorn – written by Josh Funk. Also New York Times bestsellers Wishtree, Wilodeen and Odder by Katherine Applegate and A Boy Called Bat series by Elana K Arnold.
He worked at Animal Logic as a concept artist/art director and was involved in various animated feature film and tv commercial projects.
Charles Santoso’s work has been exhibited in Sydney and also internationally in North America and France.
Illustration Inspiration: Charles Santoso, Illustrator of This Way, Charlie
Bianca SchulzeBy Bianca Schulze4 Mins Read
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The Children’s Book Review
Charles Santoso has illustrated several picture books, including I Don’t Like Koala and The Snurtch by Sean Ferrell; Ida, Always by Caron Levis; and the Peanut Butter & books by Joe McGee. He lives and works in Singapore.
I make art because …
I like drawing. I like storytelling. When I combine these two, sometimes things happen. Some people call it art, others call it by different names. I often call it magic.
Book This Way, CharlieMy latest published book is …
This Way, Charlie. It’s a wonderful friendship story between a blind horse and a grumpy goat written by Caron Levis. Reading the manuscript made me smile, tear up and smile again. I love it. The picture book is published by Abrams Books for Young Readers.
Art medium used …
I often use different methods for different stories. For This Way, Charlie, I used Photoshop with Wacom Graphic Tablet.
Artistic process …
After reading the manuscript and understanding the “heart” of the story, I began my quest in finding a suitable visual look for the book. I did lots of research, looking at lots of videos and books about goats, horses, and farms. I then studied the anatomy of horses and goats, as they are generally really tricky to visualize. I also tried different rendering approaches for the book. The process was quite similar to a cook finding a recipe for a new dish.
While these were happening on the side, I also started to do sketches for interiors of the book, playing around with story beats, compositions, and page turn.
Once the book dummy was done and everyone was happy with it, I moved to the final rendering phase. The “recipe” from the early process ensures our whole book has a consistent look.
A close up of an animal
I am inspired by …
Many things inspired me, especially art in general. These days I do get more and more inspirations from mundane events, little moments that I observe in real life. For example, finding a lone wildflower among concrete or seeing the way light shines on leave surfaces. Seeing different perspectives from different people—especially children—really intrigues me.
My favorite place to create & illustrate is …
I love working in my studio to do finished illustrations, and I love cafes or libraries for me to work on my sketches.
My most used art supply or tool is …
Wacom graphic tablet and iPad. I also use pen and pencil for sketching and for doing some parts of my other books.
Illustrator idols …
There are too many of them! Wolf Erlbruch, Norman Rockwell, Bill Watterson, Iain McCaig, and so SO many others. I could go on and on about this, and I better stop now.
All-time favorite children’s book I didn’t illustrate…
The Little Prince, although I personally think it is absolutely perfect as is and doesn’t really need to be visually interpreted by others.
A literary character to create art with …
I would love to draw with the Little Prince. He’ll ask too many questions of course, but I think I’ll learn many things from him.
Currently working on …
I’m working on a picture book that I am writing and illustrating. I’m both nervous and excited!
WISHTREE By Katherine Applegate 204 pp. Feiwel & Friends. $17.99. (Middle grade; ages 8 to 12)
Leave it to a children's books writer to produce the most moving commentary I've read on the anti-immigration movement -- without mentioning bans or walls or presidents. What's more, this is a tale told by ... a tree. Never mind the kids. Katherine Applegate's ''Wishtree'' is a beautifully written, morally bracing story that will leave its imprint on a reader of any age.
About that tree: Red is a city tree, a tall, largehearted, middle-aged (at 216 rings) red oak. She's also a ''wishtree,'' one of an honorable tribe that hosts a centuries-old tradition found all over the world. On the first of May, her limbs are tied with rags, tags, even ''the occasional gym sock,'' with wishes scribbled on them. She has lots of opinions and a tendency, when her best friend Bongo the Crow is hanging about, to philosophize. Bongo, a self-described pessimist with a fine ear for the nuances of human language, resents being grouped in a ''murder'' of crows, while a bunch of hummingbirds is called a ''charm.'' She's full of hollows, at her age, which start as wounds, but slowly heal, offering protection to creatures. They are ''proof that something bad can become something good with enough time and care and hope.'' Hers are home to owlets, possums, raccoons and skunks. They chatter with one another, but nature, we learn, has one rule: Do not talk to people.
Applegate has a quirky imagination and a deft touch. She has created believable nonhuman characters before, most memorably in ''The One and Only Ivan,'' her Newbery Medal-winning novel narrated by an artistic animal who spends 27 years in captivity in a shopping mall. (That book opens winningly with the lines, ''Hello. I am Ivan. I am a gorilla. It's not as easy as it looks.'') Red, for her part, has a sly wit, aware that a human might be hugging her one minute, and the next, sending her to become tongue depressors. Living in a neighborhood that has seen Italian, Chinese, Spanish and Nigerian families come and go, Red now throws her shade over the home of a Muslim family that includes a shy, gentle 10-year-old girl, Samar, who sneaks into her yard every night to visit Red and is soon accepted by the tree creatures. Bongo gives Samar gifts from her hoard of trinkets. But something has changed: Samar's family is not welcomed by the neighborhood. Angry men yell out insults as they drive by. They throw eggs at the house. And one horrible morning, a boy attacks her bark with a screwdriver. Red can tell ''from the determined way he moved that it was meant to hurt.'' What he writes is aimed at the hearts of the Muslim family: LEAVE.
The threatening tattoo draws reporters and the police, as well as the attention of the landlady whose family has owned the property for generations. Trees are troublemakers, she decides. Their roots buckle sidewalks. Heaps of leaves fall into gutters. And now, political graffiti. The landlady decides it is Red who must leave, and hires men bearing chain saws. Red ponders her fate philosophically, deciding she has a few important tasks to accomplish before she is cut down -- and that's when the magic of this tale unfurls. Red's impulses, to engage, to teach, to heal, to connect -- to talk! -- are all too human. She sets about to do what we would all hope the better angels of our natures would have us do. In that, Applegate's novel becomes a parable -- not unlike a certain classic novel in which a tiny spider, protecting a sweet, smart, runt of a pig, taught us the power of friendship.
Even if you are old enough to be a grandmother, you can almost believe Red's story is real. Middle-grade readers will no doubt be charmed by the way creatures talk, and they might be challenged to puzzle out some things, like who speaks Yoruba. They'll learn just enough science (to say nothing of current events) to be satisfied that this story is grounded in a familiar world. The book's message -- and the grace Applegate locates in children's hearts -- will not escape anyone.
Generation after generation, Americans eventually embrace the latest arrivals, and get stronger for it. The best teachers are often the most unexpected. I finished this book and conjured the image of ''Wishtree'' read-ins, with children and mayors and senators -- maybe even a president with a son who's in the book's target age range -- nestled under the beneficent shade of their own Reds, learning that this country has always been shaped by newcomers who stay.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com
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Browning, Dominique. "If This Tree Could Talk." The New York Times Book Review, 10 Sept. 2017, p. 25(L). Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A503927625/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8134344e. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Falatko, Julie NO BORING STORIES! Viking (Children's Fiction) $17.99 11, 6 ISBN: 978-0-451-47682-1
Bunny is in search of a writer's group, but her offbeat style is out of sync with both her wide-eyed, fluffy appearance and her cuddly counterparts working in clusters on the endpapers.
Following an arrow toward the "International Society for Writers of Odd and Weird," she knows she has found her people. Unfortunately, Miss Mole and the other rough-hewn members--a giraffe-necked weevil, a babirusa, and a yeti crab--dismiss her after one look. She goes underground (literally), but the irrepressible rabbit can't contain her contributions to the group's unfolding narrative about a princess fighting to save the kingdom (and sandwiches), relayed in cloud-shaped thought bubbles. Santoso's incisive designs range from sequential panels to full-page compositions. He differentiates the dual storylines by using earth tones for "reality" and a more vibrant palette for the invented action. Bunny's interruptions force a confrontation during which the authors express frustration at the preponderance of adorable bunny stories, while the accused explains her misery regarding "all these ideas inside me" but no one to help with discernment. Happily, when the plot's conclusion proves elusive, Bunny's idea for turning evil grapes into carrot raisin salad is just the ticket. Falatko builds increasingly embellished sentences while also pairing terminology about and examples of story elements: "relatable characters," an "inciting incident," "rising action," and a "climax."
Showcasing the values of persistence and collaboration, this intelligent comedy offers substance alongside the laughter. (Picture book. 5-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Falatko, Julie: NO BORING STORIES!" Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2018. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A556119034/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c3f279f9. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Penguin & Tiny Shrimp Don't Do Bedtime
Cate Berry, illus. by Charles Santoso. HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray, $17.99 (32p)
ISBN 978-0-06-249153-4
Never mind that Penguin is wearing jammies and Little Shrimp a sleeping cap; the two let readers know up front that "this is not a bedtime book" and "we don't do bedtime!" Relayed entirely through speech balloons, the story is propelled by Penguin's flippant dismissal of bedtime rituals ("You won't catch us with sleepy sheep or wishing stars") and his diminutive sidekick's snappy quips ("Sayonara, Sheep!" says Tiny Shrimp to a herd of sheep expecting to be counted). Debut author Berry revs up her romp as the duo evades with gusto, leaping into a sky illuminated by fireworks, running from a lion in the Serengeti, swinging from vines in the rain forest, and sailing through shark-infested waters. Animals from each escapade join the cast to expand the menagerie, and all stage a raucous sing-along that's cut short by yawns and drooping eyelids--despite Penguin's assertion that "This book will never make you yawn." He's likely right: the digital art from Santoso (Peanut Butter & Aliens)--highlighted by comical images of the wide-eyed, open-mouthed title characters--energizes Berry's tactically understated text, often wryly turning it on its head. A buoyantly subversive antibedtime tale. Ages 5-8. Author's agent: Alexandra Penfold, Upstart Crow Literary. Illustrator's agent: Justin Rucker, Shannon Associates. (May)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"Penguin & Tiny Shrimp Don't Do Bedtime." Publishers Weekly, vol. 265, no. 12, 19 Mar. 2018, pp. 73+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A531977416/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=99b2714b. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Roan, Rebecca DRAGONS GET COLDS TOO Bloomsbury (Children's Fiction) $17.99 2, 12 ISBN: 978-1-68119-044-0
A little girl with a sick dragon uses a guidebook to nurse it back to health.
A human woman in stereotypical doctor garb doles out expert advice via a Dr. Spock-like manual. She nurses her own ill dragon, an orange one with yellow ridges down its back and gray wings, as an example. But the child reading the guidebook finds that the advice is a bit off, and her tweaks and real-life experience are juxtaposed, hers on white-backgrounded pages, the expert's on colored ones. Step 1 is to definitively diagnose your dragon with a cold. While the pages that follow don't directly reflect that process, they are humorous nonetheless: A "Fact" box explains that dragons need alternatives to tissues (too likely to ignite). A companion "Tip" is to have extras of your own clothing about, as dragons don't wear sleeves. The tongue-in-cheek digital illustrations belie the easygoing tone of these notes (taped to the pages) and show the girl struggling with a disgustingly snotty dragon (green with orange ridges and dark green wings). Indeed, adult readers are sure to see some parallels here, especially if there are any sick toddlers in the house, and will chuckle along, though younger readers may miss the understated humor entirely depending upon their maturity level (challenging vocabulary may require an extra assist from grown-ups: "distraction," "harsh critics," "adequately," "amusement," etc.). The protagonist presents white and the doctor-author presents black.
Humorous, but it doesn't fill the bill for distracting little listeners from their own colds. (Picture book. 5-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Roan, Rebecca: DRAGONS GET COLDS TOO." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2018. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A557887214/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=635d899f. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
McGee, Joe PEANUT BUTTER & SANTA CLAUS Abrams (Children's Fiction) $16.99 10, 15 ISBN: 978-1-4197-3634-6
The third picture-book collaboration by McGee and Santoso (Peanut Butter & Aliens, 2017, etc.) takes a stab at holiday festivities.
Reginald the zombie, Zarfon the alien, and Abigail Zink, "the smartest girl in Quirkville," are "eager and excited for Santa's visit." But then a terrible storm prompts the mayor to announce that "CHRISTMAS IS CANCELED." The trio of friends is determined to "help Santa out of that storm." They head out in Zarfon's spaceship, loaded with (what else?) peanut butter. When they see the North Pole they quickly discover that the storm isn't blowing snow all around but rather marshmallow. Santa explains that "the marshmallow cream factory has gone bonkers!" and Zarfon has the bright idea to stuff the factory's chimneys with peanut butter. This stops the storm for a bit, but then there's a marshmallow-and-peanut-butter explosion. The combination is nothing short of delicious, so they make sandwiches and then Santa hitches his reindeer to the spaceship (because its engines were clogged), and they sail off to deliver the goodies for Christmas. While fans of prior books may enjoy this one's familiarity, the story is…a bit of a mess, and the art mostly replicates the action of the text without doing much to help things stick together.
Hold the peanut butter and stick to milk and cookies for Santa. (Picture book. 4-6)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"McGee, Joe: PEANUT BUTTER & SANTA CLAUS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A597739268/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4f2e85fb. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Dyckman, Ame DANDY Little, Brown (Children's Fiction) $17.99 4, 2 ISBN: 978-0-316-36295-5
In the war against weeds, there's no match for a father's love.
The front endpapers paint the setting perfectly: a suburban street of neat houses with lawns and shrubs manicured to within an inch of their lives, the adult caretakers grooming them while their children play. A turn of the page, and Daddy is reacting with consternation as he spies "something scary on his perfect lawn." He's too late, though: His daughter, Sweetie, has adopted the weed--sorry, flower--as her best friend, "Charlotte." "Daddy hoped his friends wouldn't notice." But they do. And they pressure Daddy to take care of the weed that threatens the whole species-diverse neighborhood. But though he tries numerous times ("book time," naptime) and in numerous ways (shovel, mower), Sweetie is somehow "always there" with Charlotte. The neighbors add more pressure; Daddy's tactics grow wilder. And then Sweetie leaves for swim lessons: the perfect opportunity. But Daddy chokes. When something is suddenly "WRONG" with Charlotte, Daddy looks into his daughter's teary eyes and knows what he must do. And the rear endpapers show that the neighborhood tough-guy talk was just that, the fathers now joining their children in their play, dots of yellow on their lawns. The digital illustrations are a riot, both Daddy's obsession and Sweetie's sweetness and innocence coming through loud and clear.
Hopefully this will spread around suburban neighborhood families just like Charlotte's seeds. (Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Dyckman, Ame: DANDY." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A580520763/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9fb1e79c. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Levis, Caron THIS WAY, CHARLIE Abrams (Children's Fiction) $17.99 4, 21 ISBN: 978-1-4197-4206-4
A standoffish goat forms a unique bond with a partially blind horse.
Jack, a solitary goat, lives at Open Bud Ranch, where "all kinds" of animals come for space to "heal, rest, and grow." Jack, who likes "keeping his space to himself," is initially irritated when a horse named Charlie arrives, accidentally invading that space. Gradually, Jack realizes Charlie's blind in one eye. He watches Charlie greet everyone, sniff honeysuckles, and follow sunlit patches--but also bump into things and seem lost, scared, even lonely. One day, Jack beckons him: "This way, Charlie," guiding Charlie to his favorite grazing field. Soon Jack leads Charlie everywhere, and they become friends. After Charlie loses sight in his other eye, Jack simply moves closer to lead Charlie on their walks. Despite Charlie's urging, injuries from Jack's abused past prevent him from engaging other animals until Charlie's in danger and Jack must ask others for help. Inspired by a real-life relationship between a horse and a goat at an Oklahoma wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center, this gentle story's positive messages about patience, kindness, and friendship are reinforced in soft illustrations that resemble impressionistic watercolors. Touching scenes of isolationist Jack watching Charlie from a distance gradually give way to upbeat scenes of Jack actively leading Charlie into a mutually healing friendship.
Memorable and moving. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8)
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"Levis, Caron: THIS WAY, CHARLIE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A613750891/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6b8d9e12. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Yamada, Kobi FINDING MUCHNESS Compendium (Children's None) $14.95 6, 29 ISBN: 978-1-970147-43-8
Follow your heart, and your life will increase in richness and joy.
Whether it’s taking chances, tackling a problem, experimenting with new ideas, or being brave enough to try new things, Yamada (Trying, 2020, etc.) is a master at encouraging young ones. This time he expands on these themes, presenting a platform for living the best kind of life. Finding what you love is only the first step. Readers are exhorted to take every bit of promise, creativity, and determination they have, then practice, stretch it to its limits, and turn it into achievement. Every clichéd bit of advice is included, but there is no sense of preaching or condescension, and it all somehow feels fresh and new. It speaks directly to young readers in a gentle, warm tone and offers a blueprint for choosing the better path. Santoso’s engaging little duckling, whose pale yellow beak and feet are the only bits of color in the mostly taupe and gray illustrations, acts out Yamada’s suggestions with humor and gusto. Matching action to the text with just enough exaggeration to prove the point, the duckling exudes enthusiasm; it makes every effort to create, to bravely seek adventure, and to find the joyful heart of every endeavor. Will young readers and their grown-ups find “muchness” and ways to “add more life to life?” Perhaps and perhaps not, but they will certainly find much to savor and discuss
A lovely and hopeful philosophical exercise. (Picture book. 5-10)
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"Yamada, Kobi: FINDING MUCHNESS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2021. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A659925002/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=03094a76. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Thomson, Sarah L. WOMBAT UNDERGROUND Little, Brown (Children's None) $18.99 1, 11 ISBN: 978-0-316-70706-0
An Australian bushfire wreaks havoc on wildlife.
The plight of creatures native to Australia--a wombat, a skink, a wallaby, and an echidna--is dramatically told in this story of a raging fire. Ignited by a lightning flash, the fire endangers the animals' lives and their habitats. Expressed through richly poetic language, the story captures the ways in which the blaze upends the animals' lives, forcing them to flee and seek shelter. This is a tale rooted in fact, and children will learn some basic information about the animals' habits and the climatic factors that generate life-threatening flames, emphasized by a tempestuous spread featuring the "Ka-Boom!" of the lightning strike. A gentle fictional component, arising from Wombat's digging prowess and the cozy burrow it digs for itself, leads to a sweet denouement in which its neighbors find a safe haven. Thus, readers will also discover a welcome message about kindness. The warmly colored illustrations are splendid, providing realistic depictions of the animals and the landscapes surrounding them. Wombat is presented as a cuddly, endearing animal; throughout, the artwork focuses readers' close attention on how Wombat shelters inside its underground lair. An author's note explains that Australia has an annual fire season and references the particularly calamitous bushfires that occurred there in 2019-2020, exacerbated by global warming and drought. Additional facts about the animals are included. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A charming introduction to creatures native to Australia and a wake-up call to care for our planet. (bibliography, including websites) (Informational picture book. 4-8)
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"Thomson, Sarah L.: WOMBAT UNDERGROUND." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Nov. 2021. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A680615894/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e364f4be. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
WILLODEENBy Katherine ApplegateIllustrated by Charles Santoso
It was bad enough, as a child of the '80s, to hear adults warn how terrible things were going to get during my lifetime because of the mistakes they'd made. Children of the '20s have it worse. They have to hear how much better things were before they were even born -- before the age of superfires, superfloods and storms with names from the Greek alphabet. How do you mourn the loss of something you've never known? Last year was the hottest in recorded history. Children today may remember it as the coldest year of the rest of their lives.
Katherine Applegate's ''Willodeen,'' like most fairy tales, takes place in a world that is familiar in its generalities and supernatural in its particulars. The village of Perchance has a lumber mill and a steam railroad, but its homes are built of logs and mud, the men hunt with bows and arrows, children rarely attend school and villagers speak with wonder about gas lamps in a distant city. Perchance enjoys a ''gentle winter climate'' -- the novel's sole mention of ''climate,'' instructively -- but autumn is another story. That's when the ''Dragon Sighs'' blow, hot winds that spark devouring conflagrations. One of these wildfires killed the brother and parents of our stubborn, freethinking, quasi-feral 11-year-old heroine, Willodeen.
''It almost seemed the earth was mad at the lot of us,'' Applegate (''The One and Only Ivan'') writes. After her family's incineration, Willodeen moves in with a female couple (''thespians,'' as they're described) and spends her days making notes about local fauna, the werebadgers, dibby ducks, peacock snails and lirkmunks. The village's chief source of revenue is an annual fair celebrating the seasonal migration of the hummingbear -- something like a hummingbird crossed with a Care Bear. Its fur reminds Willodeen of dandelion fuzz, shiny wings sprout from its back and it constructs its nest out of glistening, glow-in-the-dark bubbles. A pet hummingbear, its wings singed by the wildfire, is Willodeen's closest companion, but her sympathies extend to a far less charismatic species: the screecher, a grumpy, demented, noxious-smelling hog that villagers have hunted nearly to extinction.
As Willodeen defends the screecher at public meetings, she becomes Perchance's answer to Greta Thunberg, who provides the novel's epigraph. Thanks to a feat of inexplicable hocus-pocus, and her budding friendship with a village boy named Connor, Willodeen learns the foundational lesson of the environmental movement: The fates of all of Earth's creatures, no matter how beatific or flatulent, are intertwined. As go the screechers, so go us all. Along the way, Willodeen gains insights into the short-term biases of the rabble, the blindness of village elders to slowly emerging threats, the political power of righteous youth and much else that can be drawn out by parents and teachers eager to engage young readers about the planetary crisis in which they have been cast as reluctant protagonists. Applegate's most inventive contribution, however, comes after the main business of the story has been resolved.
Connor's hobby is crafting ''puzzlers'': lifelike animal sculptures made from bark, stones and mud. (His screecher puzzler helps Willodeen convince Perchance's hidebound mobs of the importance of conservation.) In the novel's final pages, his art matures. He begins to make puzzlers of hybrid species of his own creation -- hawks with fins and lions with wings. ''What on earth is wrong with that boy?'' a villager sneers. Connor's father replies, ''What on earth is wrong with your imagination?''
It takes empathy to cherish all living things, no matter how small or ugly. But it takes imagination to recognize both the agonies and the marvels of the future that awaits us. As Willodeen asks, ''If horrible things were possible, why not magical ones?''
Nathaniel Rich's latest book is ''Second Nature: Scenes From a World Remade.'' WILLODEEN By Katherine Applegate Illustrated by Charles Santoso 272 pp. Feiwel and Friends. $16.99. (Ages 8 to 12)
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Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 The New York Times Company
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Rich, Nathaniel. "All Screechers Great and Small." The New York Times Book Review, 3 Oct. 2021, p. 22(L). Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A677668856/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=136f8602. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Odder
by Katherine Applegate; illus. by Charles Santoso
Intermediate Feiwel 288 pp. g
9/22 978-1-250-14742-4 $16.99
Library ed. 979-8-88578-266-1 $22.99 e-book ed. 978-1-250-14743-1 $9.99
Applegate and Santoso (Willodeen, rev. 9/21) pair for another creature story, this one a verse novel about an otter named Odder who lives off the coast of California near Monterey Bay. The tale is divided into three sections, beginning with "The Queen of Play," a reference to Odder's daredevil nature. But the opening poems are about sharks, foreshadowing what is about to happen. On this day Odder can't resist going a little too far, despite her more cautious friend Kairi's warnings, and is attacked by a great white shark; she manages to make her way to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The second section flashes back to three years earlier, when as a baby Odder became separated from her mother and was rescued and painstakingly taught survival skills by the aquarium's aquarists. The final section returns to the present, as Odder, too injured to be returned to the wild, becomes a surrogate parent to another otter pup that has lost its mother. Applegate grounds the story in scientific fact, slipping in interesting details in a lyrical way, as when she talks about keystone species, "nature's glue, / holding habitats together." "Without otters, / sea urchins, purple as a bruise, / gobble kelp forests / until the ocean floor / becomes a barren wasteland." Santoso's tender black-and-white drawings, together with the large type, will make this novel very accessible and appealing to young animal lovers. Back matter includes a glossary; an author's note about Monterey Bay Aquarium and the real-life stories on which Odder's is based; and a selected bibliography. SUSAN DOVE LEMPKE
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Lempke, Susan Dove. "Odder." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 98, no. 6, Nov.-Dec. 2022, p. 78. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A727777312/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=3a82530d. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Levis, Caron FEATHERS TOGETHER Abrams (Children's None) $18.99 10, 4 ISBN: 978-1-4197-5458-6
Best friends must learn to enjoy life apart until they can be reunited.
Bonded stork pair Klepetan and Malena do everything together, Klepetan inspecting the world around him, and Malena enthusiastically jumping in, each taking turns to tell jokes and a bedtime story. But then Malena is injured. A "kind featherheaded man" cares for her, building the pair a nest on his roof and a ramp so Malena can access it. But when fall--and migration time--arrives, the pair decide that "Being apart will be a new part of our together." They exchange feathers (the title is their catchphrase), and the man helps them through their final awful day: "Friendship survives all kinds of goodbyes." Slowly, the two learn how to be apart and eventually start sending jokes and stories to the clouds and stars as they'd promised. The author draws out the tension in the most delicious way, readers rushing to the end so that the birds can be reunited, and likely there will be no dry eyes in the house when the duo are finally once again nestled next to one another, feathers together. The digital illustrations give marvelous personality to each stork, their every emotion evident and so relatable for readers. The man is light-skinned; the village he lives in is a diverse one. The author's note gives more info about the real-life birds who inspired the story and about other influences: families separated by immigration, military deployments, and the pandemic. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A touching true-life tale with much wisdom for people who face similar situations. (Picture book. 4-8)
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"Levis, Caron: FEATHERS TOGETHER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Aug. 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A713722798/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=676695ca. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Levis, Caron MIGHTY MUDDY US Abrams (Children's None) $18.99 10, 3 ISBN: 9781419763731
An injured newborn elephant gains strength from a loving older sister.
Ely's legs are bent and stuck when he's born, which means he's unable to stand and go to the watering hole. Big sister Enid trumpets a loud, reassuring song. Her brother tries again and again. He pushes, wobbles, and falls again and again, but he perseveres. Finally, with legs splayed and unsteady, Ely stands! Mama Echo cautions that Ely will still need help. Enid vows to be her brother's protector. They bellow silly songs: "Too-wee, too-wee, too-weeeee!" and splash in the mud, declaring their sibling strength by shouting, "We are MIGHTY MUDDY US!" But as Ely grows, his independence does, too. His legs still wobble at times, but his adventurous spirit is strong. Enid is sad her brother doesn't need her anymore, but when a dust storm separates the two, Enid realizes she needs her brother just as much. Levis and Santoso, the duo behind other inspired animal stories such as Feathers Together (2022), bring these lovable pachyderms to life. Dusty, parched, orange-colored scenes give way to joyful water splashing, showing the many, ever-changing conditions elephants face. Sibling support and strong family relationships prevail. An author's note explains the real-life elephant family that inspired the story.
Nurtures encouragement, grit, and love. (Informational picture book. 4-7)
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"Levis, Caron: MIGHTY MUDDY US." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A766904332/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=7bea49a9. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Funk, Josh DEAR UNICORN Viking (Children's None) $18.99 9, 19 ISBN: 9780593206942
Letters fly back and forth between a child and a unicorn until the two finally meet in person.
The initial double-page spread shows a light-skinned teacher facing a class of children at their easels. "Our art and pen pal units have been combined," the teacher tells them. "We'll be mailing pictures and images along with each letter." On the next page, a unicorn teacher extends the lecture--to a group of chubby young diversely hued unicorns. This teacher advises the students to ask their pen pals questions, to talk about their own lives, to be creative, and to enjoy themselves. Over the course of the school year, we see a light-skinned child called Constance Nace-Ayer (who, as her name suggests, is a little grumpy about the pen pal project, at least initially) exchange handwritten letters and artwork with a more upbeat pink unicorn named Nicole Sharp. There is plenty of wordplay and some sly, subtle indications that the pen pals sometimes misunderstand each other. At the book's climax, when the pen pals all meet face to face, Constance and Nicole are surprised to learn each other's respective species. While young readers will appreciate the cutesy illustrations, the pen pals' decision to remain friends despite their differences falls a bit flat. The story depicts this moment as a huge triumph, but what human--no matter how narrow-minded--would reject an offer of unicorn friendship?(This book was reviewed digitally.)
Adorable but unlikely to hold children's attention on rereads. (Picture book. 4-6)
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"Funk, Josh: DEAR UNICORN." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Aug. 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A760508083/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b30eb379. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
I Will Read to You. By Gideon Sterer. Illus. by Charles Santoso. Aug. 2023.40p. Little, Brown, $18.99 (9780316592611). Gr. 1-3.
The parents of author Sterer used to own and operate an upstate New York wildlife discovery center. As a child, he unlocked the cages and let the animals out at night, and he does much the same thing here-only this time the animals are monsters. This eerie picture book, which can be read for Halloween or whenever a child wants a delicious scare, stars a pale young boy who loves to be read to but wonders who reads to the beasts at night. To help them with this, he and his mother carry a book from their cottage in the middle of the woods. At the top of the highest hill, in a scene reminiscent of "Night on Bald Mountain" from Disney's Fantasia, the boy summons vampires, skeletons, flying dragons, ghosts, giants, witches, mummies, goblins, ghouls, and trolls. The illustrations, done digitally with handmade pencil textures, deliver a wildly creepy feel. The monsters fall asleep when he reads to them, but this book may rev up children at bedtime. Reserve for the scare-proof. --Connie Fletcher
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 American Library Association
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Fletcher, Connie. "I Will Read to You." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 22, 1 Aug. 2023, p. 59. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A761981766/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1d08d259. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Dear Duck, Please Come!
Sarah Mackenzie, illus. by Charles Santoso. Waxwing, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-9563-9311-8
Even good friends can have episodes of miscommunication: here, the trouble starts with semantic ambiguity. "Dear Duck, please come! I lost my tooth," reads the letter from Rabbit that Duck receives at his egg-shaped home. Thinking Rabbit needs help, Duck immediately launches a search, and is joined by Badger and Turtle because, as Mackenzie (Because Barbara) writes in what becomes the book's refrain, it's "a good-friend thing to do." The extensive forest quest allows Santoso (Dear Unicorn), whose digital drawings resemble velvety oil pastels, to add moments of sly visual humor, as when an already-off-the-page Badger returns to give slow-moving turtle a lift. The compositions also leverage the landscape in a variety of playful ways, including a vertical orientation that depicts the party scaling a tall tree. Yet the tooth remains missing even when Squirrel and Mouse join the crew, and the group reaches Rabbit's carrot-shaped home in tears, sure they have let their pal down. The end reveals that the request actually centered on help celebrating a dental milestone--an invitation that the friends embrace with relief and joy. Being of assistance can mean so much in any relationship; the key, the creators comically emphasize, is offering the right kind of help. Ages 2-6. (Jan.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 PWxyz, LLC
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"Dear Duck, Please Come!" Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 39, 14 Oct. 2024, p. 85. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A812940830/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6777bc30. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
Murray, Diana SLEEPY SNUGGLES Clarion/HarperCollins (Children's None) $19.99 10, 1 ISBN: 9780063255234
Nothing's so soothing at bedtime as a tender parental snuggle.
On each successive page, a different animal parent--a bunny, a bear, a bee, a hen, a sheep, a pig, a duck, a fish, a frog, a robin, and, at last, a human--tucks a precious babe in and tenderly kisses the little one. Expressing themselves in gentle, lilting verse with the cadence of a soft lullaby, these parents wish their babies a loving good night. Each spread begins with the wordsnuggle: "Snuggle-duckling, snuggle-duckling, / not another quack!" Youngsters listening to these soothing words will not only be lulled into peaceful slumbers themselves, but will also glean some easy science lessons as the animal parents describe their children's physical characteristics. The bear mentions its youngster's "tiny claws," the hen points out her chick's "pointy beak," and the duck refers to the duckling's "downy back." Each parent also identifies its little one's bedding. The little bunny gets tucked into a bed of "garden leaves," the bee in a "golden hive," and the sheep in a "grassy field." Rendered in a warm palette, Santoso's illustrations, created digitally and with handmade textures, are as plush and comforting as the downy blanket enfolding the human "snuggle-baby" in the final spread. (It's no coincidence that the cuddly infant is surrounded by stuffed toy versions of the animals in the story.) Human characters present white.
Make this irresistibly snuggly book a part of your nightly bedtime ritual.(Picture book. 3-6)
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"Murray, Diana: SLEEPY SNUGGLES." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A802865236/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e8f5872e. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.