7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #152: Featuring David Walker
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
It’s time to take a Sunday once again to appreciate those illustrators who can entertain the youngest of children through picture books without also inducing headaches, brought on by excessive cuteness, in those adults reading the illustrated titles to said children. This is a balancing act, I would think, a tough thing to pull off. David Walker can do it.
Last August, Candlewick released a picture book by Shirley Parenteau, with illustrations by Walker, called Bears on Chairs. This book is a little gem is what it is. If you have a preschooler, or work with them, and you want a picture book that’s going to draw them like a magnet with its rhyming (“Parenteau’s rhythm and rhyme never falter,” wrote Kirkus), fun, accessible text and its soft, warm images, this is the book for you. My own preschooler has carried it around pretty much since I got a review copy and read it to her multiple times: She’ll set herself down on the couch and “read” it. With a text like this…