Let's Do Everything and Nothing

January 15, 2022
A mother and her young daughter, cued as Taiwanese American, explore the world together. The two climb a snowy mountain, swim with manta rays in the ocean, stargaze, "follow trails on summer nights," lie in a field to watch cloud parades of "majestic beasts," and more. Readers will decide whether these remarkable adventures are real or metaphors for the imaginative worlds mother and daughter explore while spending the day together indoors. The duo's excursions end with the peaceful rituals of bathtime and teatime, as they "watch the shadows stretch" then doze on the rug. With just a single picturesque sentence per double-page spread, Kuo creates a sweeping yet intimate narrative about the experiences of contentment and togetherness that make even small moments seem extraordinary and that anchor us through life's highs and lows. This connectedness, the book suggests, helps us "reach the very top, the very bottom, the very end" of life's journeys as we "do everything and nothing" together. The tranquil digital illustrations use a three-tone or four-tone palette with striking color contrasts and sometimes recall Japanese Ukiyo-e landscape art (Kuo is Taiwanese American.) Visual details like a bag of shrimp chips, Chinese calligraphy, and a Zhongguo knot add cultural authenticity. This offering would make a wonderful gift book for expectant parents and may inspire young readers with new ideas for outdoor activities. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A quiet book with a loud message about the everyday things that create constancy in a world of ephemeral pleasures. (Picture book. 4-7)

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March 14, 2022
Togetherness is at the heart of this serene book by Kuo, making her solo debut. Framed by a series of single-sentence invitations (“Will you climb a hill with me?”) and stated plans (“We’ll follow trails on summer nights”), the book pictures an adult and child, cued as of Taiwanese heritage, together experiencing the mundane and the adventurous. Kuo’s distinctive digital illustrations, both delicate and bold, pop off the page, relying on a rich palette of coral, cornflower blue, and marigold hues. At first composed of lofty scenes that see the pair ascending a snowy summit and swimming among stingray-filled ocean depths, the story eventually turns domestic, foregrounding bath time and snacks including tea, oranges, and a bag of shrimp chips. As the companions “watch the shadows stretch,” and comfortably “do everything and nothing,” they enjoy each other’s company with a resounding and loving intimacy. Ages 3–6.

March 15, 2022
Preschool-Grade 1 Taiwanese American illustrator Kuo makes her authorial debut with this quiet yet expansive story celebrating the bond between a mother and daughter. The pair embark on a series of imaginative quests at all sorts of altitudes throughout the natural world. They explore the deep ocean's majestic sights while swimming with huge manta rays. They observe the enchantments in a summer's night surrounded by fireflies. They spot animal shapes in the sky as they relax on the ground and journey to the highest snowy peak above the clouds. After their grand adventures, the story winds up back at home, with the pair gazing out a window, relaxing with tea, and taking a bath--enjoying each other's company is clearly "the best journey yet." Kuo's warm scenes in sunset colors match the close, cozy tone of the story, and the expansiveness of the landscapes emphasizes the sense of possibility in the pair's imaginative adventures, which can also be interpreted as metaphors for life's journeys. Perfect for a Mother's Day display or storytime.

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Starred review from April 8, 2022

PreS-K-A marvelous journey unfolds throughout this gentle paean to family and imagination. In interspersed sequences, a girl and her mother scale a high, snow-capped mountain peak, dive with manta rays in deep ocean waters, and cast their eyes upward to the celestial beauty of stars and clouds. When the adventure has run its course, they descend from the heightened fantasy; the slope of a grassy hill mirrors a flight of household stairs in an inspired spread with starkly inverted colors on the facing pages. At home, the explorers share the comfort of warm baths, tea with orange slices, and tender embraces. Kuo's digital art beckons readers to a meditative odyssey that shifts seamlessly from breathtaking spectacle to quiet intimacy. Text reflects action in brief, well-chosen phrases, by turns inviting ("Will you climb a hill with me?"), pensive, ("We'll share the quiet twilight hour") and joyful ("Being together is the best journey yet"). The delicate flattened art begins with a limited palette of gray, lavender, and midnight blue, against which the young girl stands out in a deep orange dress. Gradually, warmer hues appear in isolated spots: a climbing rope, a cloud of fireflies, a forest of coral in an undersea grotto. Finally, once the landscape of imagination bursts into full bloom and mother and daughter return to their everyday lives, a cozy array of saturated yellows, pinks, and greens comes forth. VERDICT This stirring ode to the love between parent and child is a must-have for all collections.-Jonah Dragan

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