Blue Spot

July 1, 2019
There's a blue splotch on Daisy's new white dress--but how did it get there? When Daisy shows Mama the spot, Mama immediately asks, "How did that happen?" The answer is anything but immediate. Daisy begins reporting events that seem initially to be potential answers: "It all started when I was drawing during art class with a blue pen"; using blue chalk for hopscotch; eating blueberries. But none of these caused the spot, and Daisy's reports veer into the fantastical: "then it started raining blueberries!"; blueberry rain becomes blueberry jam; the jam spouts like a geyser; Daisy surfs a wave of blueberry pie; a blue monster sobs blue tears. The ever stretching tale saves the real answer for the end, where its very ordinariness makes a funny cap to the previous adventure-filled possibilities. Sastrawinata-Lemay's digital illustrations are ebullient, with soft textures, soft edges, and, naturally, many shades of blue. Daisy and Mama are anthropomorphic cats with wide, round eyes (and the blue monster has nine eyes, all googly). Daisy often stares directly out at readers, which sometimes feels incongruous but also emphasizes that she's the storyteller, not just to Mama, but to readers. Oddly, although their cat-shaped mouths can make plenty of varied expressions, Mama often sports an empty smile that doesn't match the moment. A stain is mundane, but this jovial yarn's quite the opposite. (author's note) (Picture book. 3-6)

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November 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 1-Daisy, a small gray kitten, shows her mother a large blue spot on her new white dress. When her mother asks how it happened, the golden-eyed youngster describes all of the day's activities that might have caused the stain. "It all started when I was drawing during art class with a blue pen." Coincidentally, every venture includes something blue: blue chalk, blue paint, blue ice cream. Each activity becomes more fantastical as the kitten weaves the story of her action-packed day: blueberry rain, blueberry jam puddles she had to traverse on stilts, a blue monster, and so on. Illustrations created using Photoshop are large and clear, stretching from margin to margin. The feline's shaggy-dog tale is encouraged by her mother, who is undaunted by the stained dress and appears to be enjoying her child's vivid imagination. All through the story, readers can see the pristine dress is stainless, until the very end when the mystery is solved. VERDICT In the category of much ado about nothing, this embellished recounting of events is engagingly illustrated and enjoyable, but is strictly additional. -Maryann H. Owen, Oak Creek Public Library WI

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2019
Preschool-K When Mama Cat asks her kitten how she got a blue spot on her new dress, Daisy describes all the blue things she encountered that day. She starts with a blue pen, chalk, and paint. However, her narrative soon becomes fanciful as she relays adventures avoiding blueberry rain, climbing a melted mountain of blue ice cream, and surfing on a wave of blueberry jam. In the end, we see that Daisy has depicted all her exploits on a large piece of paper with a blue pen that she accidentally placed in her dress pocket uncapped. Mama encourages Daisy to continue telling her story throughout, and appears amused rather than upset about the ink stain. The author-illustrator includes a brief note about her story as an Indonesian immigrant who used art to communicate with others and eventually realized her dream of working at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Her artwork is bold and dynamic, with saturated colors that will appeal to young readers. This is a charming read-aloud for storytime that can stir a child's imagination.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)