Kevin HawkesResenhas

I ended up listening to a read aloud of the first Wicked Big Toddlah book on YouTube to see if I missed something, but no...Toddie was born a giant, and the rest of his family members are regular sized humans.

I just can't get past the fact that they lost Toddie in New York.

This little story is an "Officer Buckle and Gloria" for artists.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. There's various art styles throughout that I found engaging, but I most enjoyed that even with a predictable ending- the story was told in such a way that I didn't mind. There's a surprisingly large amount of words on each page to truly flesh out the story but is balanced nicely with the artwork that covers each page. When I first opened the book and began reading, I truly had no idea where the story was going and that's what really sold this book for me. Once the story picked up, I could predict the ending but I feel that's more a result of age than the plot being flat- children would easily fall into the dramatics brought forward. This story features Lulu, the orphaned dog of a portraiture painter as she crosses paths with Remy, the nomadic starving artist. Remy paints the 'essence' instead of the person- usually resulting in a colorful abstraction of what was seen. Whereas Lulu knows how to do portraiture painting like her previous owner, leaving us to follow her and Remy's artistic journeys contrasting their friendship. Flipping from page 7 where Lulu is painting, to page 8, faced with a hyperrealistic portrait was a moment that I genuinely laughed at. The big idea of this book appears to be the power of friendship as well as a 'beauty in the eye of the beholder' trope. When Remy gives up on painting upon feeling undervalued, Lulu is there through it all to remind him to return to his abstract artistic origins- and he finally sees the beauty in it [painting] again.½

Remy and Lulu are both painters with their own style. But both are passionate and eventually recognized for the skills.

Remy is a portrait painter who meets Lulu, a dog, at the park one day. The story tells their adventures and struggles as become famous painters together.

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Cute story about a painter and his dog, as they struggle to find fame and fortune, retain their artistic integrity, and find happiness. I enjoyed the story and found the theme about being honest and true to yourself to be very strong. The illustrations were very fun and engaging.

Summary: Remy is a struggling artist in Paris. He meets Lulu the dog who becomes his friend and companion. Together they find success until Remy tries to paint with his eyes instead of his heart. Lulu sticks by his side and brings him back to the artist he is meant to be.

Reflection: This is a longer picture book story that older children will like. Can be used to talk about friendship and being true to yourself.

A down-on-his-luck painter with poor eyesight teams up with a dog with a knack for painting portraits. This is a story of friendship between an unlikely pair.

Behind every great painter is a dog more talented.

Beautiful tale of two unlikely companions who are wonderful artists. Set in France, Remy and Lulu find one another after Lulu's first owner (a famous artist) leaves him. When Lulu finds his new friend they realize that they have have many artistic commonalities and moral struggles.

Remy and Lulu is a great book about Art. In this book, it compares Abstract and realistic art. While the man is not successful at selling his art work, in the end he ends collaborating his art with his dog. This book shares that every type of art can be appreciated.

This is a great novel about friends sticking together and helping each other in times of hardships. It is also a novel about acceptance, acceptance of one's self and style and acceptance of your friends. I think this is a great novel to teach children about friendship, as well as, about different interpretations of art.

Lulu, a dog abandoned in the city, meets Remy, a struggling artist, out in the countryside. Remy's portraits are not exactly popular, but little Lulu has amazing painting talents of her own, and soon, the pair are a huge success.

This story is about a struggling abstract painter with poor eyesight he is not able to see his own paintings. One day he meets a dog who is also a painter. Lulu the dog paints tiny portraits that become a sensation, but when Remy gets his new pair of glasses he finds out that the portraits are Lulu's intricate pet portraits. Remy gets really sad and depressed and does not want to paint with Lulu anymore, until one day her meets a woman in the countryside who admires his abstract artwork as she herself cannot see clearly. A beautiful story about a man and dog friendship.

art, and can a dog really paint like that??

An entertaining and funny book that introduces the reader to different kinds of painting. Also, a book about friendship and having faith in your own vision.

Very fun story about friendship and painting what is in your heart. The art is wonderful and the miniature's by Lulu should be lots of fun for kids to pick out. As a dog and art lover I may be biased by I think Remy and Lulu is a charming story for all ages.

Silly, lively fun.

Toddie the wicked big toddlah is back, and his Ma and Pa are taking him on vacation to New York. Toddie takes in all the sights and sounds of New York, gets separated from his parents, plays with strangers in the park, climbs the Empire State Building (a la King Kong) and causes confusion throughout the city in this follow-up to "The Wicked Big Toddlah".
The illustrations, done by the author Kevin Hawkes, are beautifully detailed, with muted colors and detailed backgrounds, but the storyline struggles. Particularly frustrating is when Toddie gets lost and his parents don't notice until they go to take a picture and he's not around (how you lose a giant toddler is somewhat ridiculous). Children between 4 and 8 will enjoy exploring the major sights of New York along with Toddie, but parents might be annoyed when Toddie's parents lose their giant child.

Toddie is just like any other baby, except he's really, really big (the size of a house). He is brought by a stork, flying through a snow storm in the middle of the night, to join his New England family. His Uncle proclaims "That's a wicked big toddlah!" and that's how Toddie gets his name. He's just like any other baby, except instead of eating the ice cream, he eats the ice cream truck, instead of bathing in the tub, he bathes in the bay (and plays with the toy boats!). Toddie's world is full of family, friends and neighbors who take care of him and his giant needs. Beatifully illustrated, the warm coloring and rich details of the story bring New England to life. The story, on the other hand, lacks structure. Toddie arrives as a baby, yet he's instantly a toddler, his family is instantly ready to take care of this giant addition, and he eats houses as if they're food. Basically this giant "toddlah" terrorizes the town and no one does anything. Children between 4 and 8 would enjoy this silly little tale.

He's big, he's a toddler, and he's in New York. How you lose your giant toddler in New York city is beyond me, but the titular protagonist reacts as any regular toddler would. He's scared and wants his parents back. Snoozfest.

The first year of giant baby Toddie's life is full of amusing situations as his caregivers figure out how to bath, feed, and change him.

Pretty cute.½

Book used for Bookstore assignment.