  | Blue velvet chair Author: Cortez, Rio | |
| Price: $23.98 | ||
Summary:
A young girl describes the changes she sees throughout the year when she climbs the living room chair to look out the windows.
| Illustrator: | Marin, Aaron |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (06/01/25)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/06/25)
Full Text Reviews:
Other - 05/19/2025 A brown-skinned child describes their view of the ever-changing world throughout this steady work focused on the ephemeral. Every morning, the youth’s first act is to climb into a blue velvet chair in their family’s living room-a chair that also features in nearby photos hinting at the child’s birth and subsequent growth. From the seat, the protagonist peers at the snow-laden world outside a window, which is so cold they can draw in the mist their breath leaves behind. As the child relays various ways of marking time (a clock, measured growth spurts on a wall), they consider the way the chair’s window view reveals seasonal change ("new pink blossoms falling"), fluctuations in weather (how "the wind carries a plastic bag on the air"), and more. Before bedtime, they climb into the chair to view another kind of visible shift: nighttime’s headlights, streetlamps, and a big round moon. Observational text by Cortez (The River Is My Ocean) and stylized art by Marin, using textural primary and secondary hues in his picture book debut, results in a gentle look at constant change narrated from a comfortingly anchored place. Ages 4-8. Author’s agent: Wendi Gu, GreenburgerKids. Illustrator’s agent: Susan Penny, Bright Agency. (Aug.) - Copyright 2025
