Starred Review ALA Booklist (Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2018)

Starred Review "Sometimes having kids is like making a drawing," Argentinian artist Gusti writes, "it doesn't come out quite the way you were imagining it." It quickly becomes obvious that the kid he's referring to is his son Mallko, who was born with Down syndrome. "At first I did not accept him," Gusti candidly admits, but time will change that, and it's soon obvious that he has come to love his son, whom he now calls "the greatest." This unusual book offers a glimpse of their quotidian life together, along with the boy's mother and older brother, who loves his little brother unconditionally. In form, the book resembles a scrapbook with its text often hand-lettered and filled with the artist's naive illustrations, sketches, and the occasional small photograph showing Mallko playing, bathing, drawing, eating (or refusing) breakfast ing, in short, all of the daily things children do. The result is charming and touching, but it invites the question of who the book's audience will be. Though younger children will identify with Mallko, now 11, the book's attitude and style are quite sophisticated with obvious appeal to adults. Happily, however, the book's implicit theme is a universal one: the power and importance of love.

Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

In a mixed-media account that won the BolognaRagazzi Award for Disability, Argentine illustrator Gusti (Half of an Elephant, 2006) relates how he learned to embrace his son's Down syndrome.When his second son, Mallko, was born with Down syndrome, Gusti confesses, "I DID NOT ACCEPT HIM." Fortunately, he gradually realizes that Mallko is "great. The greatest." And Mallko brims with orneriness—and ordinariness—as he pesters his parents, draws with his dad, and rocks out to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In simple text and a collage of sketches, comics, photos, handwritten notes, and even a picture book within the book, Gusti candidly depicts the ups and downs of life with Mallko. Parents and siblings of disabled children will find a spectrum of emotions reflected in Gusti, and Gusti's wife and older son show how family members can support one another. Despite the simple language, Gusti's message of acceptance seems particularly, earnestly, addressed to parents. "Kids with Down syndrome are an endangered species," his penultimate line declares, the words fraught with both his son's preciousness and Down syndrome's correlation with abortion. Closing images of two adults with Down syndrome kissing act as a powerful affirmation. Adults should be prepared for some children to ask, "Why?" Occasionally, the original Spanish text appears alongside its English translation, and Mallko's marker drawings appear throughout. Gusti and his family present as white.Kids will enjoy meeting Mallko, but Gusti's funny, affectionate portraits of father and son may resonate most with parents and parents-to-be. (Graphic memoir. 9 & up)

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

In a mixed-media account that won the BolognaRagazzi Award for Disability, Argentine illustrator Gusti (Half of an Elephant, 2006) relates how he learned to embrace his son's Down syndrome.When his second son, Mallko, was born with Down syndrome, Gusti confesses, "I DID NOT ACCEPT HIM." Fortunately, he gradually realizes that Mallko is "great. The greatest." And Mallko brims with orneriness—and ordinariness—as he pesters his parents, draws with his dad, and rocks out to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In simple text and a collage of sketches, comics, photos, handwritten notes, and even a picture book within the book, Gusti candidly depicts the ups and downs of life with Mallko. Parents and siblings of disabled children will find a spectrum of emotions reflected in Gusti, and Gusti's wife and older son show how family members can support one another. Despite the simple language, Gusti's message of acceptance seems particularly, earnestly, addressed to parents. "Kids with Down syndrome are an endangered species," his penultimate line declares, the words fraught with both his son's preciousness and Down syndrome's correlation with abortion. Closing images of two adults with Down syndrome kissing act as a powerful affirmation. Adults should be prepared for some children to ask, "Why?" Occasionally, the original Spanish text appears alongside its English translation, and Mallko's marker drawings appear throughout. Gusti and his family present as white.Kids will enjoy meeting Mallko, but Gusti's funny, affectionate portraits of father and son may resonate most with parents and parents-to-be. (Graphic memoir. 9 & up)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Deeply affecting and sometimes funny, this scrapbook-style memoir records Argentinian artist Gusti-s journey toward unconditional love for his son, Mallko, identified as a child with Down syndrome shortly after his birth. Sketches and scribbly, brightly colored drawings alternate with interviews, narrative reflections, poems, and song lyrics, all sensitively translated by Lethem, chronicling the way Mallko conquers Gusti-s heart. They reveal Gusti-s fears and celebrate his growing discovery, with support from family and friends, of Mallko-s skills and gifts (Mallko-s mother declares, -He had every right to arrive as he did-). Mallko loves cars, mopping the patio, and his -freeze ray- powers: -Once you are frozen you have to wait for him to unfreeze you. The most effective method is a kiss.- Gusti-s early inner conflict may make this a tough read for younger readers-in one moment, he confesses -I DID NOT ACCEPT HIM,- the words printed in huge black letters across two pages. But his naked honesty offers balance to his eventual understanding that -Mallko was already complete. And not only that: I realized he was great. The greatest.- Ages 10-12. (Nov.)