You're My Boo

July 25, 2016
Though the title might suggest a hip, slangy ode to parental affection, Dopirak’s debut picture book takes a cuddlier approach as a mother fox describes her children in a series of rhyming terms of endearment: “You’re my peek-a-boo, my sneak-a-boo,/ my laughing-till-you-squeak-a-boo./ Go! Stop! Walk! Run!/ You’re my funny honey bun.” Working in a loose, cartoony style, newcomer Withrow uses rough strokes of pencil, vibrant collage elements, and digital coloring to create a friendly patchwork backdrop for the small domestic dramas that unfold over a single day. While these foxes have a happy home, it isn’t all smiles and giggles—there’s squabbling between the two siblings, a broken toy, and a tiny slip and fall, all of which are resolved with a bit of parental TLC. Dopirak’s rhymes can get a bit treacly (“You’re my yuck-a-boo, my yum-a-boo”), but they’re unerring in their rhyme and meter and, along with Withrow’s tender illustrations, create a comforting mood from start to finish. Up to age 8. Author’s agent: Tracey Adams, Adams Literary. Illustrator’s agency: Christina A. Tugeau Artist Agency.

July 1, 2016
A day in the life of a family is more than the sum of its adorable parts. "You're my peek-a-boo, my sneak-a-boo, / my laughing till-you-squeak-a-boo." So begins this mother fox's celebration of her quick, sneaky, funny, naughty little fox cub. All day long, the toddler plays, alternating between engaging its baby sibling and teasing it. And all day long, the mother cajoles, comforts, or corrects the child's behavior, using the "boo" diminutive throughout, until at day's end the child is comforted and tucked in to sleep. Adult readers with a low saccharine tolerance may shudder at the sweetness of the endeavor, but with its meticulous scansion and playful affection, it subtly morphs into a story that is both a silly name litany (always popular with young readers) and a quietly reassuring statement of continual mischief-proof parental love ("And no matter what you do... / you will always be my boo"). The book also draws a fairly neat line between the "boo" of "peek-a-boo" and the contemporary, affectionate slang term for "sweetheart." Withrow's accompanying pencil, collage, and digital art aptly illuminates the cub's day, excelling in vignettes that illustrate the protagonist's shenanigans even as the text delivers simple, one-word descriptions. In the end, it's the love between parent and child that carries the story. Boo-tiful. (Picture book. 3-5)

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September 1, 2016

Toddler-PreS-From morning to night, a mother fox loves her children, especially her oldest, her "Boo." She gives him affectionate nicknames throughout the day as the kit and his younger sister eat, play, and squabble. Whether he's nice or mean, happy or sad, Mom is always there to hug and snuggle her Boo. The rhyming text, printed in a large font and nicely laid out for reading aloud to children, bounces along merrily. Adults may find the cutesy text (pretty much everything rhymes with "boo") endearing, but kids may find some sections confusing, for instance, the long, hyphenated nickname "my banging-like-a-drum-a-boo." The singsong text and spreads are interrupted by quartets of sequential actions punctuated with single-syllable words, "Yes! No! Nice! Mean!" These sequences show the siblings quarreling, after which their mother always reassures them that she loves them. Sometimes it seems as though the resolutions are glossed over. Thankfully, the illustrations, rendered in pencil and colored with hand-painted collage pieces and digital painting, provide more of a story arc, as well as family interactions for readers to explore and discuss. VERDICT An additional purchase for public libraries looking for more bedtime tales.-Amy Seto Forrester, Denver Public Library

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