A tender portrait of paternal love in its many varieties.
A son recounts all the ways his father showed his love in this bilingual children’s book.
The dads in the storybooks of today often show complete command of their emotions and are endlessly forthcoming with their pride, vulnerability, and support. But author and illustrator Silva reminds readers in this book’s introduction that for plenty of dads of an older generation, or dads who weren’t raised in the American middle class, “it can be hard to openly share their feelings or bond with their kids” in the ways Western society believes they should. This children’s book is a love letter to fathers like the author’s, who prefer to use actions rather than gifts or words to convey the depth of their feelings. The text follows a consistent structure of two lines starting with “my Father said he loves me…” in both English and Spanish, accompanied by a digital illustration. Silva depicts a chronology of a working-class Mexican-American father and his son from the child’s birth through childhood. The narrative marks milestones like haircuts, working, and birthdays, with many illustrations pointing to agricultural work as well as traditional Mexican food, music, and decor; these represent declarations of love through hard work, sacrifice, and cultural pride, with the father showing his devotion through “his backbreaking work” and “the music he played.” The digital illustrations often have a photographic quality, which effectively enhances the book’s theme of memory.
Silva’s poignant and personal story offers a perspective on a kind of paternal love that is often misinterpreted; he writes in the afterword that “My Father said…he loved me…although not with words…now I know how much he cared.” His vibrant, 2-D art style conveys the idea that his life is full of dynamic love (despite not hearing the words) in a variety of domestic scenes, like bedrooms, kitchens, and family trips in the car; homes are decorated with colorful walls, paper banners, Catholic elements (like crosses), and photographs. The most compelling visual elements, however, are the pastoral depictions of the “backbreaking work” that the father does to sustain his family. Silva uses long lines that bisect the pages to represent the fields he and his family worked in, rendered in shades of green, brown, and orange to emphasize their importance. There are some subtle cues about class and the sacrifices made by those living the immigrant experience, perhaps most acutely in the image of “calloused working hands,” coarse with abrasions, over a planting field. A family scene in the car shows that the protagonist has other siblings and a mother, thus implying love in other forms, but this narrative is squarely an homage to his relationship with his father—his namesake—and the story of how he was taught how to love in turn. Children raised differently can learn a new love language from Silva’s tale, and children native to either language will get the words to appreciate how love may or may not manifest in their families.
A tender portrait of paternal love in its many varieties.Pub Date: July 28, 2024
ISBN: 9781958615300
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Con Todo Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 23, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Halloween is used merely as a backdrop; better holiday titles for young readers are available.
A ghost learns to appreciate his differences.
The little ghost protagonist of this title is unusual. He’s a quilt, not a lightweight sheet like his parents and friends. He dislikes being different despite his mom’s reassurance that his ancestors also had unconventional appearances. Halloween makes the little ghost happy, though. He decides to watch trick-or-treaters by draping over a porch chair—but lands on a porch rail instead. A mom accompanying her daughter picks him up, wraps him around her chilly daughter, and brings him home with them! The family likes his looks and comforting warmth, and the little ghost immediately feels better about himself. As soon as he’s able to, he flies out through the chimney and muses happily that this adventure happened only due to his being a quilt. This odd but gently told story conveys the importance of self-respect and acceptance of one’s uniqueness. The delivery of this positive message has something of a heavy-handed feel and is rushed besides. It also isn’t entirely logical: The protagonist could have been a different type of covering; a blanket, for instance, might have enjoyed an identical experience. The soft, pleasing illustrations’ palette of tans, grays, white, black, some touches of color, and, occasionally, white text against black backgrounds suggest isolation, such as the ghost feels about himself. Most humans, including the trick-or-treating mom and daughter, have beige skin. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-16.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 66.2% of actual size.)
Halloween is used merely as a backdrop; better holiday titles for young readers are available. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6447-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard.
A grouchy sapling on a Christmas tree farm finds that there are better things than lights and decorations for its branches.
A Grinch among the other trees on the farm is determined never to become a sappy Christmas tree—and never to leave its spot. Its determination makes it so: It grows gnarled and twisted and needle-less. As time passes, the farm is swallowed by the suburbs. The neighborhood kids dare one another to climb the scary, grumpy-looking tree, and soon, they are using its branches for their imaginative play, the tree serving as a pirate ship, a fort, a spaceship, and a dragon. But in winter, the tree stands alone and feels bereft and lonely for the first time ever, and it can’t look away from the decorated tree inside the house next to its lot. When some parents threaten to cut the “horrible” tree down, the tree thinks, “Not now that my limbs are full of happy children,” showing how far it has come. Happily for the tree, the children won’t give up so easily, and though the tree never wished to become a Christmas tree, it’s perfectly content being a “trick or tree.” Martinez’s digital illustrations play up the humorous dichotomy between the happy, aspiring Christmas trees (and their shoppers) and the grumpy tree, and the diverse humans are satisfyingly expressive.
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7335-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
