Reviews - Riverside Public Library

Horn Book Guide Reviews

A lyrical combination of text and pictures describes the predawn routine of a paperboy and his dog as they force themselves from bed, make their rounds, and return at break of day for a well-deserved nap and a chance to dream. The palette of the artwork is rich and inviting, and an emphasis is put on balance and geometric form, giving solidity to this celebration of routine. A meditative evocation of the extraordinary aspects of ordinary living. Copyright 1998 Horn Book Guide Reviews

Horn Book Guide Reviews

This Caldecott Honor book is "newly remastered." A lyrical combination of text and pictures describes the predawn routine of a paperboy and his dog as they force themselves from bed, make their rounds, and return at daybreak for a well-deserved nap and a chance to dream. Rich and inviting in palette, the art emphasizes balance and geometric form. A meditative evocation of the extraordinary aspects of ordinary living. Copyright 2017 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Horn Book Magazine Reviews

Like many of today's movies or television shows, Pilkey introduces his story with title and credits before the central characters appear, as a full-page painting followed by two wordless double-page spreads focus on a newspaper truck making its delivery to a young paper carrier's home. What then follows is a lyrical combination of text and pictures describing the pre-dawn routine of a paperboy and his dog as they force themselves from bed, make their rounds, and return at break of day for a well-deserved nap and a chance to dream - for it is Saturday. The words are carefully chosen to explain but not overwhelm the illustrations, and the print never obscures pictorial content. The emphasis is on balance and geometric form, giving solidity to this celebration of routine (so dear to the heart of preschoolers). Yet this interpretation is never boring, for the palette is rich and inviting, and the situations are exotic for children whose days begin in light, not darkness. A meditative evocation of the extraordinary aspects of ordinary living. m.m.b. Copyright 1998 Horn Book Magazine Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

0-531-08856-1 ~ A quiet, solid mood piece with a quiet, solid protagonist, who becomes a hero simply by doing his job every day. The soft prose and starlit illustrations evoke the paperboy's suburban world, as he tiptoes past the bedroom doors of his sleeping family and bikes with his dog through the chilly predawn air. The paperboy is black and, in these paintings, looks a little like another solitary hero, Peter, in Ezra Jack Keats's The Snowy Day (1962). The paperboy's story has a satisfying roundness, beginning and ending in the snug warmth of his bed. The paper route interrupts his dream life, but also extends it: It gives him time to think about the big and little things in his day. When dawn comes it is a celebration, a daily miracle, and the whole book brightens its hue. Pilkey (The Hallow-Wiener, 1995, etc.) may have created a throwback to a simpler time by presenting work as a desirable activity for children; this book is a gentle salve for the instability in so much of modern life. (Picture book. 4-10) Copyright 1999 Kirkus Reviews

Publishers Weekly Reviews

Pilkey (When Cats Dream; the Dragon books) is at his best in this highly atmospheric work. Here his trademark color palette glows quietly under the cover of darkness; violet skies and emerald-shadowed fields predominate until the explosion of a fiery dawn. Early one cold morning a boy and his dog rise to deliver newspapers. In almost reverential silence they eat breakfast, prepare the newspapers, then step out into the chill, leaving sleeping parents and sister inside. Pilkey perfectly captures the thrill of being out early, seeing the world so new and having it all to oneself. Something magical is at work on this most ordinary of paper routes, tangible in the controlled hush of the narrative and in the still, moon-lit landscapes. And, at last, as his family awakens to golden sunlight, the paperboy returns to his bed, prepared to enter another familiar Pilkey world: dreamland. Ages 4-10. (Mar.) Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 1-3 A quiet mood piece that depicts the bond between a paperboy and his dog. Human and canine both struggle to rouse themselves, eat breakfast from bowls, and have an intimate knowledge of their route. Pilkey paints their shared experiences with a graceful economy of language. Morning is the third character in the story "...this is the time when they are the happiest." Deep, sumptuous acrylics portray the initial darkness, the gradual lightening, and the riotous magenta and orange sunrise. The artist has cleverly designed parallel, yet contrasting, opening and closing scenes of the African American child in bed, feet covered by his dog, room framed by a sloping roof. In the first spread, the still starry morning surrounds the house and "enters" it through the uncurtained window. When the duo return and crawl back into bed, the shade is pulled against the brilliance, the room darkened a scene clinching their camaraderie. A totally satisfying story for small groups or individuals. Wendy Lukehart, Dauphin County Library, Harrisburg, PA Copyright 1998 School Library Journal Reviews

School Library Journal Reviews

PreS-2—A lovely, meditative book about a child who rises before the sun, loads up his delivery bag, and sets off on his appointed rounds with his dog by his side. The spare text sets the scene and offers just the right amount of detail. "All the world is asleep except for the paperboy and his dog. And this is the time when they are the happiest." The luminous acrylic and India ink artwork is evocative in its lighting and soft-focus rounded shapes. There is an overall sense of peace and calm and the contentment in a job well done, and the boy and his pup crawl back into his bed, which is still warm. Pilkey (yes, that Pilkey), the creator of the zany "Captain Underpants" and "Ricky Ricotta" books (both Scholastic), has written and illustrated more than 50 books for children. The Paperboy was a Caldecott Honor winner in 1997 and definitely established his painterly chops. Be sure to look for his illustrations in Richard Blanco's poem/picture book One Today (Little, Brown, 2015).—Luann Toth, School Library Journal