Jessie Sima

Jules, her mom, and her sister are spending the day at the beach. They all have brown skin and hair in shades of purple-tinted brown, her mom with a pixie cut, Jules with a straight cut just under her ears, and her sister with slightly curly waist-length hair. While her mom, in a green suit and cover-up that shows the curves of her thighs and stomach, settles on the beach with a book (20,000 leagues under the sea), Jules' sister heads out to sea with her surfboard. Jules, in shorts and tank show more top, settles down to build an amazing sand castle that will impress her sister.

But the ocean smashes it. Jules builds it again, determined to keep it away from the ocean and impress her sister.

And the ocean smashes it.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Finally, the ocean even takes Jules' bucket! Defeated, Jules gives up. But then... her sister appears. She ties up her hair, comforts Jules, and together they build the most amazing, awesome sandcastle ever. And then...

The ocean smashes it.

But this time, with her sister there, the experience is completely different. Tired and happy, the little family packs up in the car to go home.

Sima has a recognizable style, and yet it's different in every book. In this story, the blues and greens of the ocean contrast with the beige sand, while the girls' and their activities are set off with pink and purple accents. Big, bold pink letters flash across the pages as Jules yells her rage at the obstreperous ocean, and soft purple hues surround the sisters as they work together to rebuild.

This would make an excellent read-aloud. The time is just write and kids will empathize, even as they giggle along, with Jules' growing frustration. It's also a great story about resilience and working together and shows a kindness and cooperation between siblings that is a hallmark of Sima's work.

Verdict: Grab this one for storytimes themed around beaches, siblings, working together, and resilience. It's a great book to recommend to daycares and schools working with their kids on social-emotional skills as well. Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9781534441682; Published June 2020 by Simon and Schuster; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library. show less

I read Sima's children's books purely for myself, not sort of on-spec for the littles I know, and while I enjoy reading children's books, theirs are among the very few I read solely because *I* want to. Like [Not Quite Narwhal] and [Hardly Haunted], Perfectly Pegasus feels thematically queer without being demonstrably queer at all. In this one, a Pegasus wants to wish for a friend but loses the shooting star she wanted to wish on. In the course of her search for the star, she meets many show more folks who help her. When she returns home still without having found her star, she realizes that she got her wish after all. All those folks who helped her? They are friends. Sima's illustrations are bright and colorful and wonderful, the text simple and to the point. I hope they keep on writing these lovely, slightly fantastical anthropomorphic tales of finding one's people, one's place, one's found family. I will read them all. show less

A lonely old house on a hill worries that she might be haunted in this delightfully spooky picture-book from author/artist Jessie Sima. Desiring a resident family who will can give her companionship, she does everything she can to resist seeming haunted, until a windy night when she discovers that she likes making noise—creaking, squeaking, groaning—and that being haunted isn't so bad. Happy now with who she is, the house nevertheless remains lonely, until the night that a family of show more ghosts move in....

Having greatly enjoyed some of Jessie Sima's previous picture-books—namely, her Not Quite Narwhal and Harriet Gets Carried Away—I requested Hardly Haunted from my library as soon as I discovered its existence. It finally came in this past week, and although it's a little late in the year for spooky tales (Halloween having passed a month ago), I found it absolutely delightful. The house makes an endearing heroine, and her struggles to be something she isn't, in order to win companionship, is quite poignant. This, of course, makes the resolution of the story quite heartwarming. The artwork is cute, and manages to anthropomorphize the house to just the right degree, suggesting a face at times, but not going overboard. Naturally, as a cat lover I appreciated the inclusion of the little black cat in all of the scenes. Recommended to picture-book lovers looking for stories of spooky haunted houses that aren't too scary. Although no mention is made here of Halloween, this one would be perfect for a story time at that holiday. show less

Kelp doesn't look like all the narwhals, can't swim as well as them either, and just generally feels out of place among them. Then one day he sees a being in the far distance that he thinks looks like him. In fact, he discovers a whole group of these "land narwhals" as he calls them. But where does Kelp really belong? With his narwhal family or these newfound unicorns?

This book is really sweet and a bit funny as well. The illustrations are so adorable and will appeal to those of us who grew show more up on Lisa Frank stickers, notebooks, binders, and everything else. (Although these aren't quite the same style, the squee factor is similar). The sense of longing and desire to fit in are easily resolved happily here. I like that the story is essentially a twist on the ugly duckling tale but with kinder characters all around. show less