Sinks.
Young dolphin Pearl encounters braggarts, bullies, and friends during her first day at magical dolphin school.
The Coral Cove Dolphin School is where young dolphins go to learn the magical skills they need for their roles as protectors of the ocean. Pearl’s excited on her first day. To help her, Pearl’s father gives her the advice that becomes her didactic motto for the rest of the book: “Always choose kindness.” At school, Pearl quickly makes friends but also encounters Flip, a cardboard character who exists just to brag. Of course Pearl, her new friends, and Flip all end up in the same pod. As the book progresses, the dolphins’ character traits (boastfulness, impetuosity, kindness, etc.) are hammered in repetitively, interspersed with worldbuilding exposition communicated in lectures. At recess with older dolphins, they encounter a bully (no motivations needed—he’s just a bully), who eventually dares Flip to swim alone in an area known for sharks. Sure enough, a shark appears, and the plucky heroes save the day (with the teachers arriving just in time for the danger to have passed). After this bonding experience, Flip no longer brags but is “smart and funny”—readers will have to take the narration’s word for it, though, as it’s just one last instance of telling instead of showing.
Sinks. (Fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: July 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-75024-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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