In which I have some thoughts about books that everybody else except me apparently loved

Brave New Ballet: The story of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo 9798217049370

  This is a picture book about a male ballet troupe formed in the 1970s that performed in drag, including the women's parts. I don't think it's inappropriate for kids, in the modern conception of the word, but I think the topic is too complex for the picture book format. Admittedly, I may be somewhat influenced by my sibling who teaches cultural anthropology/dance and who had some thoughts about the book. In any case, it's unlikely to be a book that's of interest to my community.

Bookie & Cookie turn the page by Bianca Gomez 9780593696835

  This is a fairly typical interactive story, focusing on imagining positive and negative scenarios if the two characters turn the page. SLJ gave it a very positive review. But there are two styles of drawings in the book. The imagined (negative) scenarios from the white Cookie are in the more refined style of the author so the new character, a little girl, shows up as Black. The reimagined, positive scenarios from Bookie, the Black character, are drawn in what appears to be a childlike style with stick figures. The little girl who appears on the cover (and Bookie) are shown as white stick figures. This means that all the characters are depicted as white in all the positive scenarios and Black in almost all the negative ones. This... seems like a problem to me.

 

 Goldfinches by Mary Oliver, illustrated by Melissa Sweet 9780593692417

  I can recognize the artistic beauty of Sweet's work and I understand she has won many accolades and I am not particularly qualified to make artistic judgments. However, I found the neon pink distracting, out of place in the general color scheme, and not remotely like the actual color of thistle blooms, which I've always seen as a softer pink or purple, or like the "coin of reddish fire" it is supposed to depict. Secondly, although some of the more sketchy parts of the art are indistinct, throughout the book Sweet depicts goldfinches in their familiar bright gold plumage with black striped feathers, completely ignoring the lighter olive color of the female goldfinch and the winter plumage of the male. I wouldn't necessarily fault her for this - it took me quite a while to identify male goldfinches in their winter plumage - except she specifically mentions doing research for the book. So why did she only depict male goldfinches, building the nest, feeding the young, migrating, etc. and only in one season of plumage? I'm obviously a minority voice here, since the book has received wide acclaim and is being lauded as a potential award-winner, but it's not one I personally would promote.

I received all these as unsolicited review copies