Mabel and Sam at Home

April 9, 2018
Mabel and Sam have just moved into a new home. They think that with all the unloading and bustling about, it’s likely they’ll get “tripped over or smooshed or trod upon.” But over the course of one day (and three chapters), the two siblings use pretend play and empty moving boxes to help them weather the big transition. By the close of the final chapter, featuring an imaginary trip through space, the children have realized that the move was for the best (“Our old planet was getting crowded,” Mabel says) and that their new home has plenty of potential to be “Planet Perfecto.” Urban’s plentiful text could have benefited from some tightening, but Hooper’s images, created with printmaking techniques, are beautifully realized; clearly, her imagination is equal to those of her characters. Each chapter is built around a color (navy, yellow, and gray-green, respectively) and mixes fully rendered characters with impressionistic settings and dappled textures, resulting in pages that brim with reassuring humor and lovely graphic nuances. Ages 5–8.

Starred review from May 1, 2018
Preschool-G *Starred Review* Mabel and Sam, sister and brother, are in the midst of moving into their new home with their parents, their blue dog, and their yellow cat. The house is in chaos, so the two children go on three escapades to while away the time and to keep out from underfoot. A big empty box and a large blue rug become their ship and ocean ( And that is how Mabel became a Sea Captain ). The two tan-skinned siblings experience an adventure on the high seas until their new home turns, in their imagination, into a museum and Mabel becomes a Tour Guide. One final adventure has the two becoming astronauts and blasting off into space. Vocabulary words new to young listeners, such as ahoy, inhabitants, behold, and artifact, are explained in the dialogue between Mabel and Sam. Humor, camaraderie, and sibling devotion culminate in this charming three-part tale. In her illustrations, Hooper (The Iridescence of Birds, 2014) usestraditional printmaking techniques to illustrate the story, and the color scheme consists mainly of blue, tan, and yellow, with a few red highlights. This highly recommended tribute to the imagination is composed of delightful pictures and three clever and entertaining stories.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2019
Two brown-skinned siblings explore their new house through the lens of imagination. Divided into three chapters, the witty and charming narrative is a good deal longer than the average picture book, ideal for a family read-aloud. The illustrations, rendered with traditional printmaking techniques and finished in Photoshop, use primary colors, bold patterns, and pleasing textures to bridge the real and the imaginary.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)