Fogliano, Julie. Because of a Shoe. Marla Frazee, Illus. Knopf, 02/2026. [32]pp. Picture Book. Trade $19.99. 978-0-593-70740-1. GRADES Baby/Toddler–Preschool. LOW ADDITIONAL.
This first-person description of a child’s tantrum from the point of view of the parent fails to honor the experience of the child by illustrating an exaggeration of their imagined depths of despair, mocking their stubbornness, and one-upping their defiance, without offering serious guesses about the strong feelings that surely motivated the outburst. The pale-skinned, red-headed, well-attuned duo express a full range of emotions, which is in itself a useful message to convey. Nevertheless, the assumption that the adult doesn’t know and doesn’t care if the shoe is too tight or too loose, yet makes declarative statements about the child’s thoughts and feelings, gives the entire work a feeling of patronizing condescension and accusation, especially when read aloud. Frazee’s realistic, soft-edge renderings in colored pencil on matte film start with an adorably upset child in a cheerfully-colored setting but turn into a bleak wasteland where both parent and child are drawn in gray, brown and black. When the mood subsides and the colors return, readers will still have no idea what instigated the tantrum. While this may accurately reflect the lived experience of many parents and caregivers, and outwardly reflects the child’s experience as well, it is hard to imagine a child feeling truly seen in this hyperbolic depiction of their wordless, senseless, emotional distress.
Erica Siskind—Oakland Public Library