Patchwork

June 20, 2022
In a series of poetic vignettes, the creators of this contemplative picture book introduce an array of children whose early traits or talents seem to suggest a determined life path. One, portrayed with brown skin, seems “put on this earth to dance./ We know, we know”; another, who reads as white, is “the kid perpetually in time-out./ We sigh, we sigh.” But the young dancer’s innate rhythm leads to a career as a coder who can “change the way the world moves,” while the class cut-up becomes a life-changing teacher when interacting with “a restless kid like you.” Using hatch marks and quiltlike squares of color, Luyken (Something Good) celebrates the capacity to explore and change: introductory images employ a limited palette, giving way to multihued views of additional depth and dimensionality as the children, portrayed with varying skin tones, mature and transform. In expansive lines, de la Peña (Milo Imagines the World) counters messages of narrowing one’s sights, conveying the heartening idea that lives of meaning emerge, instead, from “mismatched scraps accumulated over time/ and stitched together/ into a kind of patchwork.” Ages 4–8. Agent (for de la Peña and Luyken): Steven Malk, Writers House.

August 12, 2022

Gr 2-4-A celebration of children and what they may become as successful adults, written by Newbery Medal-winning de la Pe�a, beautifully illustrated by Luyken (The Book of Mistakes) and also available in Spanish, Retazos. De la Pe�a starts Patchwork on a modern note of inclusivity, with a gender reveal party with blue cake filling, which proves all wrong for a child whose paint brush hovers over pink paint and who grows into an artist who loves brown. The book is composed of two- to four-page vignettes that focus on character traits or skills developed in childhood and used in adulthood: math in dance leads to a career in coding, the bouncing of a basketball to the rhythm of poetry, kindness to classmates to a leadership position. Luyken's art reinforces the message of "mismatched scraps stitched together" into a kind of patchwork with pastel squares of color, and includes children of light to dark skin tones with an effective use of white space through gouache, ink, and pencil. While her artwork follows the words of the text, the vignettes are hard to follow. The theme of affirmation is lost as the vignettes abruptly veer from one child to another without an easily understood common denominator. VERDICT The sentiments are lovely but may not land for most children.-Sarah Sieg

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 23, 2022
Grades K-3 Using lyrical language, de la Pe�a celebrates the potential found in every child. A young boy is heralded with blue at a gender reveal party, but later finds he also likes pink. A young female dancer responds to the many rhythms she feels; as an adult, those rhythms help her to become a mathematical coder. Another boy lives for any kind of ball sport, but his true adult calling is that of a poet. A hyper, restless child grows up to become a favorite teacher, able to help kids who are just like him. He concludes, ""You are more than a single note--You are a symphony,"" a kind of beautiful patchwork. Luyken's soft illustrations (rendered in gouache, ink, and pencil) skillfully play off de la Pe�a's verbal metaphors. The story's characters (many of them BIPOC) are sketched in pencil and ink with squares of color daubed on top to resemble patches on a quilt. An apt and inspiring message, beautifully rendered.

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November 1, 2022
A rhythmic text speaks to an unnamed child in the second person, describing what "we see" and how that trait or characteristic may inform a young person's future identity (for better or worse) and how they might see themself. In the first vignette, readers meet a child identified with "blue" at a gender-reveal party. With the page-turn, we learn they are "blue dressed in blue," but their paintbrush at times "hovers above the pink." As the character matures, though, "the color you will come to love most / is brown" -- presumably the brown of their own skin. De la Pena's text does not specify whether it's directed at one figure or many, but Luyken illustrates each vignette with a different child, all part of a multiracial cast: a dance-loving tot grows up to find rhythm in computer code; a young athlete ("You are basketball-baseball-futbol-any-kind-of-ball") becomes a bilingual poet; a class clown becomes a compassionate teacher. Luyken's backgrounds feature brushy squares, a visual motif that plays on the title. The "we" that observes and speaks to each character becomes broadly expansive at the end, enfolding narrator, characters, and readers: "We are beautiful." Gentle and affirming. Vicky Smith

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from July 1, 2022
Being pigeonholed or restricted limits the multifaceted expressions of humanity. Children blossom with the encouragement to explore and define themselves. But de la Pe�a and Luyken demonstrate that even before we are born, we are steered to fit into molds that often chafe, from gender-reveal events ("You were blue before you were even born") to the restrictive opinions of educators ("You are the kid perpetually in time-out"). But the freedom to experiment offers many opportunities; a love of dancing might lead to coding or a passion for sports to spinning "couplets on your finger." Whether you discover the transformative power of kindness or harness ideas to pull people to your cause, the infinite choices that form the rich canvas of our lives are empowering. With a nudge here and a turn there, each jolt of awareness reveals the kaleidoscopic expanse of realities within us all. De la Pe�a's lyrical observations and proclamations take the mind from complacent to questioning to affirming. His gentle guidance from page to page creates a poetry of understanding--we are more than what is expected of us. Luyken depicts a diverse group of children, using a palette of pastel pink, blue, lavender, and yellow and a subtle pattern evoking patchwork on each page to highlight the transformative power of self-discovery. (This book was reviewed digitally.) The call to revel in the glorious patchwork that is "us" blazes forth from this paean of acceptance. (Picture book. 4-10)

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2022
A rhythmic text speaks to an unnamed child in the second person, describing what "we see" and how that trait or characteristic may inform a young person's future identity (for better or worse) and how they might see themself. In the first vignette, readers meet a child identified with "blue" at a gender-reveal party. With the page-turn, we learn they are "blue dressed in blue," but their paintbrush at times "hovers above the pink." As the character matures, though, "the color you will come to love most / is brown" -- presumably the brown of their own skin. De la Pena's text does not specify whether it's directed at one figure or many, but Luyken illustrates each vignette with a different child, all part of a multiracial cast: a dance-loving tot grows up to find rhythm in computer code; a young athlete ("You are basketball-baseball-futbol-any-kind-of-ball") becomes a bilingual poet; a class clown becomes a compassionate teacher. Luyken's backgrounds feature brushy squares, a visual motif that plays on the title. The "we" that observes and speaks to each character becomes broadly expansive at the end, enfolding narrator, characters, and readers: "We are beautiful." Gentle and affirming.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)