Flabbersmashed About You

by Rachel Vail, Yumi Heo (Illustrator)

Overview

Readers first met Katie Honors in Rachel and Yumi's Sometimes I'm Bombaloo and Jibberwillies at Night. Now Katie is back as she deals with feeling "flabbersmashed" by her best friend, who suddenly wants to be friends with another kid. We've all been flabbersmashed by a friend—left out of an activity or secret, left to feel sorry for ourselves, or move on. Will Katie ever stop feeling left out?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466817999
Publisher:	Feiwel & Friends
Publication date:	07/03/2012
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	46 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Rachel Vail is the author of numerous novels and picture books, including Justin Case and Piggy Bunny. She lives in New York City with her husband and two sons.

Yumi Heo was born and raised in Korea, where she studied graphic design. She came to the United States in 1989 and received an MFA in Illustration from New York City's School of Visual Arts. She is the author and illustrator of many books, including Father’s Rubber Shoes, The Green Frogs: A Korean Folk Tale, and Lady Hahn and Her Seven Friends. She lived in White Plains, New York.

Editorial Reviews

For readers who are confronting loss or shifts in friendship.” —Kirkus

“Evocative.” —Booklist

From the Publisher

The third Katie Honors entry (Sometimes I'm Bombaloo, 2002; Jibberwillies at Night, 2008) again traverses critical emotional territory, though the visual and textual quality don't match the topic's importance. The plot is simple: Katie's best friend plays with someone else at recess; Katie feels furious and wounded until she makes a new chum herself. Although Katie boasts about her own social dabbling ("I like to play with everybody, and they all like to play with me, too. I go on lots of playdates"), and although Jennifer never implies that their friendship's over, powerlessness and loss of routine do sting. Unfortunately, the artwork is too stilted and static for the roiling emotions and theme about change. Composition varies, but despite interesting white space between figures and background, the vibe is stiff. Even when Katie imagines screaming, Heo's geometrical shapes look balanced and regular. When Katie does yell, her eye becomes a spiral, and the visuals finally match the mood. Text changes type, color and size, in a way that feels not playful but instructional and provides volume levels. Description of Katie's old and new pals waxes sentimentally adult: Jennifer's "smile is as bright as the morning sun in your eyes," Arabella's "smile [i]s gentle like the afternoon sun between the leaves." As the future of Katie and Jennifer's friendship remains unknown, this is for readers who are confronting loss or shifts in friendship. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews