We Go to the Park

★ “The absence of light inspires its own unique story in this scintillating, kid-centered view of shadow play... Handy picks apart this day-to-day darkness while preserving its magic and wonder. Meanwhile, Feng’s art depicts the natural existence of shadows, outdoor and in, with an evocative sense of wonder. The world on these pages is rendered realistically, its innate magic still held intact. With kids’ fears banished, these shadows are no less enigmatic for being observed so closely in this lyrical, loving ode.” * Kirkus (starred review) *
★ “The absence of light inspires its own unique story in this scintillating, kid-centered view of shadow play... Handy picks apart this day-to-day darkness while preserving its magic and wonder. Meanwhile, Feng’s art depicts the natural existence of shadows, outdoor and in, with an evocative sense of wonder. The world on these pages is rendered realistically, its innate magic still held intact. With kids’ fears banished, these shadows are no less enigmatic for being observed so closely in this lyrical, loving ode.” * Kirkus (starred review) *
★ “The absence of light inspires its own unique story in this scintillating, kid-centered view of shadow play... Handy picks apart this day-to-day darkness while preserving its magic and wonder. Meanwhile, Feng’s art depicts the natural existence of shadows, outdoor and in, with an evocative sense of wonder. The world on these pages is rendered realistically, its innate magic still held intact. With kids’ fears banished, these shadows are no less enigmatic for being observed so closely in this lyrical, loving ode.” * Kirkus (starred review) *
★ “The absence of light inspires its own unique story in this scintillating, kid-centered view of shadow play... Handy picks apart this day-to-day darkness while preserving its magic and wonder. Meanwhile, Feng’s art depicts the natural existence of shadows, outdoor and in, with an evocative sense of wonder. The world on these pages is rendered realistically, its innate magic still held intact. With kids’ fears banished, these shadows are no less enigmatic for being observed so closely in this lyrical, loving ode.” * Kirkus (starred review) *
STARRED REVIEW! ★ “Two globally acclaimed creators—author Stridsberg and illustrator Alemagna—join forces in this boundary-pushing picture book for older readers translated from Swedish. Positioning the park as a liminal space, the spare, poetic text and beautifully unsettling art explore its endless possibilities as children play and wander... As readers explore these surreal, dreamlike landscapes that contain both rich dark colors and bright, intense ones, they become immersed in text that can be interpreted as a meditation on childhood’s fleeting and changeable nature... Contemplative teens on the cusp of independence and adult readers nostalgic for the mysteries and wonders of their early years will linger and ponder. Wondrously strange and wonderfully evocative.” * Kirkus *
“The park offers refuge to the child who narrates this uninhibited prose poem... Evocative text, blots of color and streams of expressive line show children playing on fanciful structures, in meadows and clearings, their emotions—contentment, exasperation, joy—readable in their bodies.The park is a place of liberation and passion, the creators convey.” * Publishers Weekly *
STARRED REVIEW! ★ “Taking a deep look into the emotional life of children, this thoughtful narrative uses spare, poetic language in a lyrical first-person perspective. Thickly layered illustrations further encourage an emotional response, as the vivid, sometimes jarring colors demand attention and add to the tone of instability. The narrator recognizes that the park, like life in general, … is a place of many possibilities, a situation that is both frightening and thrilling. This evocative picture book could connect with middle- or high-school readers and inspire them to consider their own pivot points, the places of security, and the events or people who helped them grow.” * Booklist *
“The park offers refuge to the child who narrates this uninhibited prose poem... Evocative text, blots of color and streams of expressive line show children playing on fanciful structures, in meadows and clearings, their emotions—contentment, exasperation, joy—readable in their bodies.The park is a place of liberation and passion, the creators convey.” * Publishers Weekly *
“The park offers refuge to the child who narrates this uninhibited prose poem... Evocative text, blots of color and streams of expressive line show children playing on fanciful structures, in meadows and clearings, their emotions—contentment, exasperation, joy—readable in their bodies.The park is a place of liberation and passion, the creators convey.” * Publishers Weekly *
“The park offers refuge to the child who narrates this uninhibited prose poem... Evocative text, blots of color and streams of expressive line show children playing on fanciful structures, in meadows and clearings, their emotions—contentment, exasperation, joy—readable in their bodies.The park is a place of liberation and passion, the creators convey.” * Publishers Weekly *
“Not to be missed… This remarkable collaboration between two acclaimed creators—a Swedish novelist/playwright and an Italian artist—invites teens and adults to reminisce about and reconsider simple trips to the park through a surprising lens. The pairing of otherworldly paintings with brief, deceptively simple lines of text turns ordinary playgrounds, fields, and woods into landscapes of endless possibility.” -- Laura Simeon * Laura Simeon, Young Readers' Editor, Kirkus *
“Not to be missed… This remarkable collaboration between two acclaimed creators—a Swedish novelist/playwright and an Italian artist—invites teens and adults to reminisce about and reconsider simple trips to the park through a surprising lens. The pairing of otherworldly paintings with brief, deceptively simple lines of text turns ordinary playgrounds, fields, and woods into landscapes of endless possibility.” -- Laura Simeon * Laura Simeon, Young Readers' Editor, Kirkus *
“The park offers refuge to the child who narrates this uninhibited prose poem... Evocative text, blots of color and streams of expressive line show children playing on fanciful structures, in meadows and clearings, their emotions—contentment, exasperation, joy—readable in their bodies.The park is a place of liberation and passion, the creators convey.” * Publishers Weekly *
“Not to be missed… This remarkable collaboration between two acclaimed creators—a Swedish novelist/playwright and an Italian artist—invites teens and adults to reminisce about and reconsider simple trips to the park through a surprising lens. The pairing of otherworldly paintings with brief, deceptively simple lines of text turns ordinary playgrounds, fields, and woods into landscapes of endless possibility.” -- Laura Simeon * Laura Simeon, Young Readers' Editor, Kirkus *