School Library Journal Starred Review (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

PreS-Gr 2 Five-year-old twins are used to sharing everything: toys, clothes, and a room. They have even shared the same blanket since they were born. But now, it is too small for both of them. When the arguments begin about who it belongs to, they think that maybe it is time they each have some things of their own. But for children who have always shared everything, this proves to be a bit more difficult than they thought. Succinctly told from the perspective of the girls, this tale of sibling rivalry and separation shines. In the simple language of youngsters, it conveys what it is like to share everything while at the same time realizing how comforting it is to have someone to share things with. The simple, almost impressionistic art graces the pages with bright splashes of color and pattern. The expressions on the girls' faces are delightful and telling, and youngsters will relate to their attempts at one-upmanship. A lovely addition to any collection.— C. J. Connor, Campbell County Public Library, Cold Spring, KY

ALA Booklist (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

Twin girls tell of sharing their toys, clothes, and room. Since birth, they've shared a bed and blanket, too, but now that they're five-years-olds, they're shifting to twin beds. Neither will give up their beloved striped blanket, so their mother sews half of it onto new material, one of each girl's choosing, creating a yellow blanket and a pink one. Snug in their new beds on that first night, the sisters, suddenly out of sorts, reach across to hold hands before falling asleep. Yum, herself a twin, includes realistic, lightly competitive banter in the dual narrative, with one child referring to herself as the big sister, and the other pointing out, "You're only three minutes older than me!" In the artwork, forms stand out clearly, and colors glow on spacious white backgrounds. Combining drawn, painted, and printed effects, the appealing illustrations, simple yet stylized, are as effective as the text. A pleasing picture book for twins, siblings, and even onlies.

Horn Book (Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

The twins in this story have always shared everything, including a special blanket. Now that they're five, the blanket is too small. Which girl will get it? Yum neatly differentiates the sisters by giving each one her own side of the book; she also uses the gutter brilliantly. The text varies its direct narration effortlessly, pulling the book's audience into the drama.

Kirkus Reviews

All children have "firsts," but twins have their own special ones. Two rosy-cheeked 5-year-old "look-alike" twin sisters share everything, but their most prized possession is a bright, striped blanket that stands out from the white background and the girls' soft colors. Now that the blanket has become too small, who should keep it? On double-page spreads each girl gives her version of the dilemma. A truce is reached when their mother decides that they'll sleep in twin beds and that she'll make them each a new blanket. The sisters' individual personalities begin to shine, as does the vibrant fabric that each picks out, and fun ensues when they help their mother wash and dry the fabric in the backyard. Even with their new blankets—with trim formed from their old blanket—the girls have trouble falling asleep in separate beds until they both reach out their hands to comfort one another in the dark. From newborns sleeping in similar poses to slumbering youngsters sprawled out in opposite positions to the selection of differently colored and designed fabrics, Yum's deceptively quiet text and poignant illustrations, created from prints, colored pencil, watercolor and other media, convey the girls' growing independence. Despite this divide—which is both physical and emotional—the twins recognize their inseparable bond. Readers who have ever wondered what it's like to be a twin need look no further. (Picture book. 3-6)

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

Yum's (There Are No Scary Wolves) third picture book shows the author/illustrator thoroughly at home with the picture book form. The conflict between two five-year-old twins is believable ("And we've shared the same blanket ever since we were born.... But we are big girls now.... The blanket has gotten too small for both of us"), and the dialogue is persuasive ("No, I think I should have it. Because... well... I can't sleep without it, either. And you're only three minutes older than me!"). Text and art share equally in the storytelling: the solution to the blanket dispute, for example, is shown, not told (Yum draws the twins' mother cutting the old blanket in two and incorporating each half into a new blanket for each girl). It's an exquisitely designed book: lots of white space focuses attention on unexpected pleasures, like the feet of the twins as they stomp on the fabric in a wash basin. The book's inherent symmetry, with the twins mirroring each other on the left and right sides of the spreads, is a treat as well. Ages 3-6. (Aug.)