Reviews

Comings and Goings by Fotini Tikkou, Anna Kontoleon, Manos Kontoleaon

panda_incognito's review

2.0

This book has a nice concept, but the execution is lacking, especially for a picture book. The story revolves around a boy preparing to visit his extended family in another part of the world, and the point of view cuts between him and his various relatives on each page spread. There is a lot of text for a picture book audience, and it's hard to keep track of the different characters. Even though the mixed media illustrations are interesting, this isn't something that I would want to read aloud to children.

More significantly, the story involves a lot of chaos and repetitive elements without much resolution. There's a lot of flurry, and a lot of fairly meaningless conversations, without a big enough payoff to justify everything that happens. I think that this would have been more effective with a tighter focus on one or two main characters, and if the story had emphasized the solo plane ride or the boy's adventures with his relatives, instead of dragging out every detail of preparations for the visit.

I received a temporary digital copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

mbooksbycandlelight's review

4.0

This was such a sweet story about a little boy named Alex who will be travelling alone to spend some time with his extended family during the summer holidays. I loved the illustrations and I especially loved how the story described both Alex’s nervousness and excitement. It’s a lovely little book.

I received an eArc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

lohn's review

I received this ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.