Black

The dynamics between the verbal and visual story is good ... The prose is practically unblemished. And it is more open, more boldly unresolved.

The chapter book genre for new readers has expanded greatly the last few years, and it gets even better when the best children book authors and illustrators raise the quality of the genre with an extraordinary everyday story.

Playful, but serious, with room for both foolhardy escapades and quiet reflections. In Black the children can be untruthful, scatter-brained, creative and vain. Their relations and fantasyworlds come alive. And most important of all, the children are respected as readers.

Children’s literature is full of clowns, superheroes and lucky and curious children. Many of those move with high speed and sound; action, comedy and restlessness … The greatest strength [in Black] is the hushed energy, the shyness that holds [the main character] back.