Booktalk ain’t got nothing on me! It only has to open its mouth and insert words into the air! But I must take my fingers to the computer keyboard and type! Now, granted, I type fairly quickly, but that old school click click tells me I’m having an overload of words! Therefore, I will just let you dive into the reviews I am giving you today.
Paul the Peacock by Tilly Matthews is pretty straight forward. There is a peacock; his name is Paul; and this is Paul’s story. It is a story about a peacock who is arrogant, selfish, not nice, and uses friends. One day his really only friend leaves him, Paul will get his comeuppance, and will change. A little bit. It is silly. It is funny. It is goofy. It is colorful. It is minimally detailed with mostly bright, solid colors. It is simple. While there might not be any AH-HA! moments to things, it does have a little punch (okay maybe a pinch). It is not in my favorites of 2024 reading, but it is definitely not the worst. It is a nice cozy, familiar story that works for today’s audiences about four/five up to about eighth or so. Read via an online reader copy, this is due August 2024.
Little Cloud’s Big Dream is due in March 2025. I only add Ixtzel Arreola and illustrator Martina Liebig’s story to a 2024 round up as you need to be aware of it. (Besides, March isn’t too far away!) The Cloud of the story (Re) has a dream to be big. But when she gets the chance, will her friends know her? Was this the right choice? However, it is going to work out as she soon learns. Re demonstrates for us the life cycle of water, of the plants, seas and more in lyrical prose. Or I could have just used the publisher’s description of: An imaginative look into the water cycle through a little cloud and the feelings she experiences as she grows and changes. The artwork is not my personal favorite, but it fits the more flowing aspect of things. Everything fits to give you an airy, cloud feel. Maybe nothing “popped” for me, but nothing is lacking or muted.