Stickler loves the world

Giraffes, cats, and penguins? Sure! But leave it to prolific and often quirky author-illustrator Smith (the Animal Problems series) to elevate an exultant, eight-eyed tangle of sticks to star-quality status. "Many strange creatures lived in the part of the forest where shadow met tree. But the strangest of all was Stickler." An admirer of brown sticks (he's just found three), Stickler delights in his surroundings and invites readers to revel in their own fresh perspective on the world. "Oh, to see it all anew. Wouldn't that be amazing?" Stickler's unbridled exuberance evokes a childlike innocence and celebrates the weirdness and wonder of even the smallest, simplest elements of nature. A corvid companion struggles to share Stickler's grand vision (for reasons that will have kids giggling) and serves as a humorous invitation for readers to open their eyes to everyday surroundings. Mixed-media illustrations in textured sepia with mossy greens and dappled blues utilizing oils, gesso, and cold wax on canvas pair delightfully with fonts of varying sizes to convey Stickler's irrepressible enthusiasm. A gleeful take on the great outdoors.

The eponymous protagonist of this wonder-oriented picture book, who appeared previously in Smith's A Gift for Nana, has eight googly eyes, a round twiggy body, bat-like ears, and a positive mental attitude that's off the charts. After running down a list of favorite things, Stickler effuses: "Our world has some pretty weird stuff in it!... Oh, to see it all anew. Wouldn't that be amazing?" When a seeming visitor wearing a "cutting-edge space helmet" appears, Stickler immediately takes up a tour-guide role, ignoring clues that the being is actually a bird stuck in an empty tin can. Smith, through Stickler, does the planet proud: elaborately textured oil paint, gesso, and cold wax spreads make sunbeams feel warmly welcoming, huge stones look poetically weather-beaten ("Behold! The joy of ROCKS"), and helicopter seed pods seem like a revelation ("Then there are THESE THINGS dancing for us"). The visitor is eventually revealed to be Stickler's pal Crow, who seems genuinely transformed by Stickler's openhearted joie de vivre-- "You really did open my eyes." Centering irrepressible joy that's a force of nature itself, the work lovingly portrays an "amazing... weird... wonderful" world that's worth experiencing anew. Ages 4--8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Aug.)

K-Gr 2--Stickler, who first appeared in A Gift for Nana, gets its own picture book. Stickler is a strange creature from the dark forest. It certainly looks odd, with eight eyes, an oversized nose, and branchy hair, but Stickler is not the least bit scary. In fact, it is full of joy and wonder at the world around it and can serve as an inspiration for all to look upon their everyday surroundings with fresh eyes. This includes a space being Stickler encounters one day in the forest while it gathers its absolutely most favorite item: sticks! Stickler guides the space being through the forest, showing it the beauty of the sun, flowers, waves, and fish in a nearby waterway, as well as the feel of wind and the wonder of rocks. When Stickler adjusts the new creature's space visor to better see the colors of a sunset, Stickler is surprised to find that it was its friend Crow, with an empty tin of peas stuck on his head, all along! Though Crow could not see all Stickler described firsthand, Stickler's excitement and enthusiasm for the wonders of the forest give him a new appreciation for the beauty surrounding him. Illustrations are an interesting combination of painting techniques used to give the pictures real-world texture while additional pencil drawings are rendered digitally. Illustration colors include gentle pastels that contrast nicely against the bursts of colors from flowers, trees, and the night sky. VERDICT A delightful book intended to encourage readers to appreciate the simple beauty of everyday things, this selection would make a great addition to a picture book collection.--Jennifer LaBurre

Smith (A Gift for Nana, rev. 5/22) again explores a world of friendly monsters, talking animals, and personified inanimate objects, here celebrating childlike curiosity, wonder, and appreciation. The openhearted Stickler, a troll-like creature with sticks for hair and an ever-shifting number of googly eyeballs, sees its friend Crow with its head stuck in a can and mistakes it for an alien visitor. Stickler takes it upon itself to share with Crow "the wonders of my planet." Morning sunbeams, waving waves, twirling maple seeds, and other seemingly ordinary features of nature are presented to Crow with reverence. Smith's mixed-media illustrations vary in color, texture, and medium between scenarios, from a fluid splatter-splash effect for water to sharply three-dimensional craggy textures for rocks. Language and text size and placement are skillfully employed throughout, both through Leach's expressive design and Smith's quippy humor. It is only after a full day of experiencing natural wonders that the can is removed from Crow's head, but instead of discontent, Crow reveals that Stickler's perspective "did open my eyes." Additional flourishes, such as day and night endpapers and drop-cap lettering (made from sticks, of course), further extend and enrich the reading experience. Smith continues to explore big ideas through oddball characters; as Stickler says, "If you think about it, our world has some pretty weird stuff in it!" Patrick GallSeptember/October 2023 p.59 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Smith eschews twee for twigs in this tribute to our world. No joke, Stickler truly does love the wild, wonderful world in which we live. Resembling nothing so much as a toothy stickball with outsized ears, eyes (eight of them!), and pointy little teeth, Stickler runs about the natural world naming objects with all the enthusiasm of a Richard Scarry page ("Mushy moss! Sticky honey!"). The only thing better would be to see it all for the first time. Enter a bird with a can on his head. Stickler promptly decides the bird must be a space alien and, delighted, sets about showing the creature everything it loves about our planet. Happily, when the bird's true identity is revealed, Stickler's tour of world wonders has not gone unappreciated. While this tale may take its visual cues from such Smith classics as The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip (2000), written by George Saunders (Stickler exudes some serious gapper energy), it's the hero's spiky strangeness that proves the perfect accompaniment to a text that could otherwise dissolve into treacle. Here Smith has joined the oddball goofiness of his earlier books with the heart and soul of his more recent stories, and the result is a book as physically beautiful as it is moving. (This book was reviewed digitally.) "Friendship! Happiness! World peace! Maple syrup!" A buoyant, bristly ode to joy. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Giraffes, cats, and penguins? Sure! But leave it to prolific and often quirky author-illustrator Smith (the Animal Problems series) to elevate an exultant, eight-eyed tangle of sticks to star-quality status. "Many strange creatures lived in the part of the forest where shadow met tree. But the strangest of all was Stickler." An admirer of brown sticks (he's just found three), Stickler delights in his surroundings and invites readers to revel in their own fresh perspective on the world. "Oh, to see it all anew. Wouldn't that be amazing?" Stickler's unbridled exuberance evokes a childlike innocence and celebrates the weirdness and wonder of even the smallest, simplest elements of nature. A corvid companion struggles to share Stickler's grand vision (for reasons that will have kids giggling) and serves as a humorous invitation for readers to open their eyes to everyday surroundings. Mixed-media illustrations in textured sepia with mossy greens and dappled blues utilizing oils, gesso, and cold wax on canvas pair delightfully with fonts of varying sizes to convey Stickler's irrepressible enthusiasm. A gleeful take on the great outdoors. Preschool-Grade 2. Copyright 2023 Booklist Reviews.

K-Gr 2—Stickler, who first appeared in A Gift for Nana, gets its own picture book. Stickler is a strange creature from the dark forest. It certainly looks odd, with eight eyes, an oversized nose, and branchy hair, but Stickler is not the least bit scary. In fact, it is full of joy and wonder at the world around it and can serve as an inspiration for all to look upon their everyday surroundings with fresh eyes. This includes a space being Stickler encounters one day in the forest while it gathers its absolutely most favorite item: sticks! Stickler guides the space being through the forest, showing it the beauty of the sun, flowers, waves, and fish in a nearby waterway, as well as the feel of wind and the wonder of rocks. When Stickler adjusts the new creature's space visor to better see the colors of a sunset, Stickler is surprised to find that it was its friend Crow, with an empty tin of peas stuck on his head, all along! Though Crow could not see all Stickler described firsthand, Stickler's excitement and enthusiasm for the wonders of the forest give him a new appreciation for the beauty surrounding him. Illustrations are an interesting combination of painting techniques used to give the pictures real-world texture while additional pencil drawings are rendered digitally. Illustration colors include gentle pastels that contrast nicely against the bursts of colors from flowers, trees, and the night sky. VERDICT A delightful book intended to encourage readers to appreciate the simple beauty of everyday things, this selection would make a great addition to a picture book collection.—Jennifer LaBurre