Review by Booklist Review
Ages 5-8. Simple language tells of the love between grandfather and granddaughter, from the beginning of her life to the end of his. "Once there was no Sophie. And then there was. Sophie's hand curled round Grandpa's finger. Grandpa and Sophie loved each other." As Sophie grows taller, Grandpa grows smaller, until at last, "there was no Grandpa, just emptiness and sadness for a while, till a tiny hand held onto Sophie's, and sweetness filled the world once again." Robinson's powerful character studies meet the emotionality of Fox's text head-on, with strong, sweeping lines and a rich, colorful palette. The sense of faith and family inherent in the text is strongly supported by the all-encompassing warmth that spills from the paintings. Fox's spare text distills complex life passages into emotions so clear even a child can understand and perhaps draw comfort from them. ~--Janice Del Negro
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this cyclical tale, Grandpa welcomes infant Sophie into the world; much later, Sophie is saddened when ``there was no Grandpa.'' The birth of Sophie's own child completes the circle. Fox's (Time for Bed) rhythmic, sparsely worded text (``Grandpa grew older and slower and smaller'') captures the deep love between Sophie and Grandpa, a bond emphasized in the artwork by the presence of oversized hands clasped in friendship. Sophie's development (``Sophie grew and grew and grew'') is contrasted with Grandpa's decline into ``little Grandpa,'' and Sophie begins to care for him as he once looked after her. Robinson (Elijah's Angel) paints in an almost aggressively naive style, playing fast and loose with perspective and line. Occasionally her efforts fall flat, but more often her compositions offer up a wealth of verve and emotion. This engaging picture book is eloquent in its simplicity, and its raw, densely peopled artwork saves it from sentimentality. Ages 3-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-In a few very brief sentences, Fox charts the cycle of life within a family as Sophie is born and grows bigger while her beloved grandfather becomes older and slower. The cycle begins again after the elderly man's death with the birth of Sophie's own child. The words are kept to a bare minimum; the pictures fill in the emotional content, clarifying what is meant by ``Once there was no Sophie'' by showing her mother pregnant. The illustrations of a close-knit, extended African American family are highly stylized and Rouault-like in their thick application of paint, broad brush strokes, and black outlines. Despite the stylization, the faces are individualized. However, the pictures often lack the balance between artistic expression and the visual needs of young children as found in books such as Faith Ringgold's Tar Beach (Crown, 1991) or John Steptoe's Stevie (HarperCollins, 1969). Robinson makes hands the focus of many of the pictures; they are huge, distorted, seemingly boneless yet strong. For example, in the first picture, a group of adults form a semicircle around the pregnant woman and a mass of their outsized, intertwined hands dominates the center of the double-page spread. While this is an interesting and bold artistic approach, it is visually complex and may confuse the audience for whom the text seems intended.-Karen James, Louisville Free Public Library, KY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In a warm and gentle story, Fox shares the events that embody the life cycle from birth to death in an African-American family, with a focus on the special relationship between Sophie and her grandfather. In each of Robinson's striking acrylic paintings, the eye is drawn to the oversized hands, which seem to symbolize the continuity of family connections. A thought-provoking blend of words and pictures. From HORN BOOK 1994, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Using the relationship between an African-American girl and her grandfather, Fox (Tough Boris, p. 479, etc.) has written a simple tale about the life cycle. When Sophie is born, her Grandpa is young and vibrant and cares for his baby granddaughter. As Sophie grows, she works with Grandpa, stands up to him, and finally surpasses him in strength and skill as he begins to decline. Ultimately, their roles are reversed--Grandpa becomes helpless and is no more, just as Sophie had once been a baby and before that had not existed in Grandpa's life. Sophie is terribly lonely until she herself has a child to fill the void left by Grandpa. Children may be unfamiliar with this very common experience, and those suffering from the loss of a grandparent will find little comfort in the distant eventuality of having a child of their own. The accompanying paintings are brightly colored, grotesque portraits that nonetheless convey a warm family feeling. A story that will appeal more to parents than to the target audience. (Fiction/Picture book. 3-8)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by School Library Journal Review
Review by Horn Book Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
