Harriet Gets Carried Away

December 15, 2017
Thick purple outlines in illustrations in predominantly lavender shades, coupled with an imaginative storyline, bring to mind Harold and the Purple Crayon.Here, a young girl in a multiracial family headed by two dads is reminded to not get "carried away," which will sound familiar to energetic, inventive young readers and listeners. Harriet herself presents as black or possibly biracial; one dad appears to be black, the other white. Harriet loves costumes and dress-up play, which will be the theme of her upcoming birthday party. She even dresses as a penguin when she goes shopping for preparations. Fantasy takes flight when she meets actual penguins in the ice aisle at the store, and she's literally carried away in hot air balloons with her newfound friends. A litany of adventures follows, including a ride on an orca and being carried away again, this time by pigeons who bring her back to the city, where her dads are still waiting at the deli counter. The flat, cartoon-style illustrations employ varying perspectives: a scene in a subway car is framed by a subway window-like border; the city is a double-page panorama shown from the sky when Harriet is carried by the pigeons; and so on.Fancy and whimsy continue in the last spread: party guest Olivia attends in a wolf suit, accompanied by a pack of real (nonscary) wolves, all clearly getting carried away. (Picture book. 5-8)

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Starred review from January 15, 2018
Dress-up-loving Harriet wears costumes everywhere; in one early scene, Sima (Not Quite Narwhal) shows her in the dentist’s chair, opening her mouth wide while inside an equally toothy dinosaur outfit. Dressed as a penguin, Harriet—who has dark skin, curly hair, and two fathers—heads to the grocery store with her dads before her birthday party, where she discovers a group of actual penguins replenishing their supply of bagged ice. Before she knows it, Harriet is aloft with them in their hot-air balloon, headed back to their polar home. Readers who fear that Harriet will be marooned or miss her birthday party will relax as an orca and a flock of pigeons help bring her back to the store, and the party goes off without a hitch. Harriet is a resourceful city child, the kind of girl who has no problem negotiating with an orca (she trades her red bow tie for a lift). The narrator’s offhand, unruffled voice (“So Harriet called in a favor from some friends she knew”) makes Harriet’s intrepid adventure a delightful readaloud. Ages 4–8. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary.

February 1, 2018

PreS-Gr 1-A young girl in a penguin costume sets off to pick out some birthday hats and gets a little carried away. Harriet lives in the big city with her two dads. She absolutely loves costumes and wears them whenever she can, not just to costume parties or for Halloween. On the day of her birthday party, Harriet puts on her special errand-running Penguin costume, and she and her dads head to the store to pick up party supplies. But when she encounters a group of real penguins Harriet gets a little carried away, and before she realizes her mistake she's on a hot air balloon heading to Antarctica. Harriet is determined to get home for her party, and after a few failed escape attempts she does find her way back to her dads in time to pick out party hats. The language is silly and sweet, and the digital illustrations are filled with tiny details and soothing pastels. Harriet's numerous costumes are cute, and the pages are populated by a diverse group of children and adults. VERDICT Children will enjoy this clever and affectionate tale with an exuberant young protagonist. Probably best enjoyed one-on-one as readers will love watching Harriet bring magic and imagination to the world around her.-Laken Hottle, Providence Community Library

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