September 1, 2022
K-Gr 2-In this gentle story of connection and community, Boynton-Hughes depicts the entire world sharing an unbreakable bond, portrayed as colorful strings linking every person together. Featuring the repeated phrase, "My heart is tied to yours," soft, rhyming text directly addresses readers as "you" and explains that while "we" have not yet met, or may live incredibly far apart, hearts are joined, and emotions are shared. Serene illustrations portray neighbors meeting for the first time, a classroom filled with laughter, a friend comforting another in grief, scenes that take place across oceans, cities, mountains, and gardens. All the while, everyone's hearts remain connected by the colorful strings. While this book does not delve into the conflicts and differences felt by many, its focus on unity and relationships delivers a positive and unified vision of the world to which readers may aspire. Pair with Stacy McAnulty's A Small Kindness, or perhaps Corrinne Averiss's Love for similar themes. VERDICT This heartwarming narration will provide readers with reassurance as well as opportunities to explore social-emotional health and global citizenship.-Olivia Gorecke
Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
October 1, 2022
A rainbow-hued string swirls from one character to the next, creating a glow of kinship wherever it lands. An adult with brown skin and cornrows hugs a lighter-skinned child with short, black hair. The youngster pulls a wagon containing a plant and watering can down the street; the child's string enters a window and goes into a light-skinned, elderly person. The simple, repetitive text, which initially seemed to be directed to the child, takes on a more universal feeling--wisdom imparted from reader to listener: "There is a string, / an invisible string, / that ties my heart / to yours. // Even if we have not met yet, / my heart is tied to yours." The cord enters a variety of diverse people and visits a birthday party, a pet burial, and a community garden and crosses mountains, deserts, and oceans. Ultimately, the child from the first spread offers garden produce to the elderly neighbor. The notion that our humanity connects us is a worthy message, as is the idea that even when separated from loved ones, something binds us. However, these concepts have been addressed more successfully, with a stronger framing story, as in Patrice Karst's popular The Invisible String (2018), illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff. Boynton-Hughes offers a catalog of situations rather than a fully developed protagonist; the charming visuals don't completely compensate for the resulting lack of emotional investment. (This book was reviewed digitally.) For adults wanting to teach world harmony, though it likely won't resonate with kids. (Picture book. 3-6)
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October 24, 2022
With light verse, whispery artwork, and a single, rainbow-hued line that loops and soars through the pages, Boynton-Hughes (Brave Molly) introduces the idea that all human beings are linked. “There is a string,” the narrator starts, addressing the reader directly, “an invisible string,/ that ties my heart/ to yours.” A child and adult, portrayed with brown skin, hug before the child sets off for a nearby community garden, wagon in tow. The titular string—which reads clearly as a conceptual element rather than a literal one—starts at the child’s hoodie and leaps off the edge of the page, connecting the youth to an elderly, white-presenting neighbor. Soon, the child is seen working in the garden within a bustling neighborhood, the cord glowing gold as it passes through individuals and groups portrayed with varying abilities and skin tones. Pulling farther out, Boyton-Hughes draws the line swirling across an ocean and desert, around the earth, and back at last to the neighborhood, where the hoodie-clad child offers the neighbor garden vegetables, acknowledging their connection: “My heart to yours,/ and yours to mine.” An upbeat variation on Karst and Lew-Vriethoff’s The Invisible String, Boynton-Hughes’s work offers a glad vision of a world connected. Ages 3–5. Agent: Marietta B. Zacker, Gallt & Zacker Literary.