Caldecott-Buzzy Picture Books

The Barnabus Project, Our Little Kitchen, and I Am Every Good Thing are all contenders for this year’s Caldecott award for illustration.

The Barnabus Project by the Terry, Eric, and Devin Fan (the Fan Brothers). Tundra, 2020, 72 pages.

Reading Level: Picture book, ages 4-8

Recommended for: ages 4-10

Barnabus lives under a bell jar in a secret lab far below the Perfect Pets pet store. Mouse-size, with mousy ears and tail, he also sports miniature elephant’s feet and trunk. Barnabas is comfortable being himself, but the man-sized creatures in the green rubber suits have marked him as a “Fail.” He’s not the only one: the secret lab is filled with other mutants under bell jars. They are all fed but their future is not secure. For, according to Pip the cockroach, Barnabus’ only outside friend, all failed projects are recycled. There’s only one alternative: Escape!

Barnabus is the cutest “failure” in this menagerie of toothed octopi and furry turtles, and he clearly wants to remain himself rather than be cutified for the Perfect Pet market. Little ones will be charmed with the story of his escape with all his pals, as they work together to outwit the green suits. The pictures have an other-worldly quality that’s both friendly and just a bit unsettling.

Overall Rating: 4 (out of 5)

Consideration:

That “unsettling” quality may be too much for sensitive children, or children will disabilities who may have already experienced a sense of rejection or dismissal from their peers, relatives, or caretakers. Concerned adults should be advised.

Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki. Abrams, 2020, 42 pages

Reading Level: Picture book, ages 4-8

Recommended for: ages 3-6

Neighbors are gathering as our story begins. They are all ages and colors, men and women, boys and girls. It’s Wednesday again, and time to cook the community meal. “Our little kitchen, a tiny, small place, is just big enough, so squeeze in and make space.” First order of business is to see what’s on hand: “what we’ve grown, what we’ve kept, been given, and bought.”  The kitchen team improvises as they work, putting together a salad from garden greens, vegetable soup from leftovers, and apple crisp from three bags of slightly bruised, donated apples. It’s all ready just in time for the guests to arrive: the poor, the homeless, the lonely. All sit down together to enjoy a hot, nourishing meal with good company. There’s nothing more human or civilized than sharing a meal together, and the author’s experience in a community kitchen in Brooklyn shows in every page: from early arrivals in a nearly empty kitchen, to the hustle of getting it on the table to the anticlimax of cleanup. The homelike, slightly retro illustrations add fun and personality. Are recipes included? Of course!

Overall rating: 4

I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James. Penguin Random House (Nancy Paulsen Books), 2020, 30 pages.

Reading Level: Picture books, ages 4-8

Recommended for: No one

I am/ a nonstop ball of energy./ Powerful and full of light./ I am a go-getter./ A difference maker./ A leader.

“I” am a rambunctious black boy enjoying life to the fullest—flying, running, building, shooting hoops, batting balls. Exuberant, dash-stroke illustrations in acrylic convey a life full of action and joy and complete immersion in the world. It’s good to see boys (of any color) celebrated for what they are and not having to share the stage with girls. “Every good thing” includes kindness and respect (a double-page spread given to that) and even a touch of sympathy.

That said, the problem is evident in the title, and even more in the text. You don’t have to believe in original sin (or even “toxic masculinity”) to understand that boys are lots of good things, but lots of not-so-good things as well. They are goal-setters and risk-takers—good stuff, until they step on others to reach their goals and risk relationship in order to assert dominance. Building a boy’s self-esteem shouldn’t come at the cost of his self-awareness. Words and phrases like “good to the core,” “star-filled sky of solutions,” and “perfect” overstate the case. Most disturbing of all is the unmistakable halo on the sixth page from the end. “I am what I say I am” is the facing text.

Assuming godlike status is not the key to success, but rather a certain road to destruction.

Overall rating: 2

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Three picture books I reviewed earlier this year are probably under consideration for the Caldecott too: Your Place in the Universe; If You Came to Earth, and I Talk Like a River.

• Here’s our buzz from way back in 2016–still good!

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