A Cape!

March 15, 2021
Preschool-Grade 1 This rollicking picture book celebrates the joy and power of imaginative play--a power so great it can even get a reluctant parent up off the couch. After a white boy discovers a red cape in his closet, he dresses himself in it, underwear, socks, and shoes, transforming in the process from a dull, black-and-white sketch into vibrant full color. The boy reasons that if he has a cape, he must have a superpower, so he goes to his father--depicted in gray tones, along with everything else--and tries to engage him in discovering the special ability, but after each of the boy's suggestions--super strength, invisibility, flight--the distracted father dismisses him. The illustrations use color to convey the boy's and father's different worlds, with the text using big red letters for the boy's words and tiny black letters for the father's. Ultimately, this is a conversion story: the father joins in the fun, wearing boxers and a blue cape as he lifts the exultant boy overhead in a Superman pose. Delightful.

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April 1, 2021
A young boy searches for his superpower and finds just what he wanted all along. Serendipity leads a young boy to open the linen closet, where he makes a discovery that changes the course of his day: In an otherwise black-and-white scene, he finds a neatly folded, bright red piece of fabric. Off come his shorts and T-shirt. On goes the imagined superhero cape, and as he poses, he gains color: brown hair, pale skin, blue sneakers, and tighty whities. Off he goes to show the still-black-and-white parental figure relaxing in a chair with a tablet. But not only can he not discover the superpower that goes with his cape, but he can't even get his parent's positive attention, either: "Please don't jump on the couch." "Did you brush your teeth today?" "No running in the house." When his disappointment at his utter lack of superpowers becomes apparent, the parent finally puts down the digital device and declares the boy has a "super powerful imagination." The parent finally gains coloring (to match the child's) when the boy (literally) pushes him to join him in superhero play...and like the child, loses clothing save for socks, yellow boxers with hearts, and a baby-blue cape. Kelley's masterful use of color in the sparse illustrations makes the messaging plain for both young and old: Use your imagination, and interact with people, not devices. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 22.5% of actual size.) Here's to many kids (and parents) finding their own superpowers. (Picture book. 3-8)

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