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UNDERCOVER

ONE OF THESE THINGS IS ALMOST LIKE THE OTHERS

Slow down and look! (Picture book. 3-6)

A picture-book invitation to look carefully and observe.

While some readers may be familiar with the Sesame Street song “One of these things is not like the others,” this French import’s subtitle first invites consideration of the similarities among objects before determining which one is “undercover.” The cover image showing a turtle among a group of hats highlights the limited color palette of brown, bright pink, and green against a white background. The forms are bold stenciled shapes and colors, and the turtle is about the same size as the hats. The turtle’s shell upon its body visually evokes the idea of a hat resting upon someone’s head, and yet it is a living creature, while the hats are articles of clothing. The solitary snail on the title page suggests a slowness that will reward careful looking. Ensuing juxtapositions depict similarities in form, size, color, and sometimes function or other times biological classification from one spread to the next, with, usually, four images in three straight rows on each double-page spread. One spread depicting structures may give some readers pause, as it includes such structures as a tepee, an office building, a factory with smokestacks, an igloo, and a simple cape-style house. These aren’t all dwellings, nor are they all permanent structures, and the “undercover” item is a confusingly indeterminate two-tiered object with a flame (or is it a cherry?) on top.

Slow down and look! (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-7148-7250-6

Page Count: 64

Publisher: Phaidon

Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016

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LOVE FROM THE CRAYONS

As ephemeral as a valentine.

Daywalt and Jeffers’ wandering crayons explore love.

Each double-page spread offers readers a vision of one of the anthropomorphic crayons on the left along with the statement “Love is [color].” The word love is represented by a small heart in the appropriate color. Opposite, childlike crayon drawings explain how that color represents love. So, readers learn, “love is green. / Because love is helpful.” The accompanying crayon drawing depicts two alligators, one holding a recycling bin and the other tossing a plastic cup into it, offering readers two ways of understanding green. Some statements are thought-provoking: “Love is white. / Because sometimes love is hard to see,” reaches beyond the immediate image of a cat’s yellow eyes, pink nose, and black mouth and whiskers, its white face and body indistinguishable from the paper it’s drawn on, to prompt real questions. “Love is brown. / Because sometimes love stinks,” on the other hand, depicted by a brown bear standing next to a brown, squiggly turd, may provoke giggles but is fundamentally a cheap laugh. Some of the color assignments have a distinctly arbitrary feel: Why is purple associated with the imagination and pink with silliness? Fans of The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) hoping for more clever, metaliterary fun will be disappointed by this rather syrupy read.

As ephemeral as a valentine. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-5247-9268-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Penguin Workshop

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021

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DIGGERSAURS

Count on construction die-hards falling in love, but discerning readers would be wise to look elsewhere for their...

Less ambitious than Chris Gall’s widely known Dinotrux (2009) and sequels, this British import systematically relegates each dinosaur/construction-equipment hybrid to its most logical job.

The title figures are introduced as bigger than both diggers and dinosaurs, and rhyming text and two construction-helmeted kids show just what these creatures are capable of. Each diggersaur has a specific job to do and a distinct sound effect. The dozersaurus moves rocks with a “SCRAAAAPE!!!” while the rollersaurus flattens lumps with a cheery “TOOT TOOT!!” Each diggersaur is numbered, with 12 in all, allowing this to be a counting book on the sly. As the diggersaurs (not all of which dig) perform jobs that regular construction equipment can do, albeit on a larger scale, there is no particular reason why any of them should have dinosaurlike looks other than just ’cause. Peppy computer art tries valiantly to attract attention away from the singularly unoriginal text. “Diggersaurs dig with bites so BIG, / each SCOOP creates a crater. // They’re TOUGH and STRONG / with necks so long— / they’re super EXCAVATORS!” Far more interesting are the two human characters, a white girl and a black boy, that flit about the pictures offering commentary and action. Much of the fun of the book can be found in trying to spot them on every two-page spread.

Count on construction die-hards falling in love, but discerning readers would be wise to look elsewhere for their dino/construction kicks. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: April 2, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-9848-4779-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019

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