ALA Booklist (Tue Feb 28 00:00:00 CST 2023)

A little girl becomes attached to a special large, yellow balloon, proclaiming it "my friend, Loonie." In the tradition of invisible companions, Loonie sits at the dinner table and hears a bedtime story along with the girl. Everything is more fun with Loonie nging, dancing, and even neighborhood walks til the inevitable happens, with the girl losing her hold on the string and Loonie floating away. Her parents (called only "parents" but depicted, perhaps, as two moms) try to distract her with gardening, but the girl is inconsolable. Lonely, gray days pass, until eventually the girl notices that one of the flowers her family planted is blooming. Its yellow blossoms remind her of Loonie! When she is able to think of Loonie with happy memories, she begins to notice its bright yellow color in the world around her. Mixed-media illustrations employ changing tones to emphasize the girl's feelings. While the loss of a balloon may seem trivial to some people experiencing grief, the story expresses emotion in a way that children may recognize and understand.

Kirkus Reviews

Loss is loss, no matter how buoyant the friend.When her parents come home one day with a gloriously gargantuan yellow balloon, their little girl knows instantly that she has found a friend. Over the next few days, she and Loonie (as she names the balloon) do almost everything together: go for walks, observe the squirrels, and dance. All is well until the girl invites her friend to see the garden but neglects to hold onto its string. Her grief is acknowledged and understood by her parents, who help her plant seeds in the ground. But slowly she sees other yellow things, like the flowers she planted, and is able to remember the good times the two had together. By the tale's end, her happiness comes from that remembering-a well-conveyed message that will resonate with readers confronting similar situations. Lindsay's bold, smudgy art makes clever use of color-yellow is a motif throughout, from the signifying brightness of Loonie to the little girl's clothing and other objects in their vicinity. At the end, parents are warned of the dangers of uninflated balloons around small children and the perils they can pose to wildlife. The little girl's parents present as female; all are light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)Respect for children's sadness and loss is exemplified beautifully in this tactful take on grief and its recovery. (Picture book. 4-7)

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

A big, bright yellow balloon represents beats of friendship and mourning in LaCour’s tender, well-paced tale. From the moment a girl’s parents, a queer-

School Library Journal (Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

PreS-Gr 2 —A very gentle tale of friendship made and lost and its lingering impact on a young girl. When the girl's moms bring home a big yellow balloon it is warmly welcomed, and a brightness comes into the life of the unnamed main character of the story. Loonie, as the balloon is affectionately called, participates in walks and dance parties and the yellow cheerfulness pervades all aspects of the young girl's life. On a trip out to the garden, untethered Loonie floats away and the young girl misses her friend greatly. Her moms try to comfort her with gardening and one day a bright yellow flower blooms from their efforts; the young girl is reminded of all the good times she had with her friend. From then on the young girl sees "yellow in places she'd never noticed before" and the heaviness of her loss has lifted. Mixed media illustrations capture the shifting tone of the story and the emotional journey of the young girl as she makes a new friend, loses that friend, learns to cope with the loss. Children will understand the emotional journey of the protagonist and have stories of connections made and lost ready to share by the end of this charming and heartfelt tale. VERDICT Honoring the emotional complexities of childhood, this is a fine addition for most libraries hoping to help children handle their complex emotional lives.—John Scott