A young boy discovers the possibilities of reading on his first day of school. In an unnamed Latin American country, Chepito sets off to explore his neighborhood. He asks the titular question to the seven people he encounters with books, from a girl reading a Mafalda comic book to a mechanic poring over a repair manual to an archeologist on a Maya site. Each answers Chepito’s questioning refrain of “Why, why, why?” differently, illuminating reading's potential. After a barely shown half-day at school, Chepito returns home with a book of his own, eager to share his discovery with his mother and younger sister. Guatemalan-born Amado spends half of the book in a repetitive-phrase pattern but then abruptly shifts to a more traditional narrative format. While some of the familiar questions reappear, the author never regains the engaging structure of the first 14 pages. A few of the words (“hieroglyphics,” “stela” and “archeologist”) will be unfamiliar to the book’s audience, and teachers and parents may wish for a glossary or an author’s note for explication of the Maya references in the text and illustrations. Mexican illustrator Monroy’s palette of mostly tans, browns and greens gives the artwork a nostalgic feel but may appeal more to adults than to young children. Nevertheless, the book captures some of the initial excitement of emergent literacy against a setting too-little seen in North American children's books. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55498-070-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Desperation confused for hysterics.
Harris’ latest makes an urgent plea for somber reflection.
“Stop! Stop!! Stop!!!” Right from the get-go, readers are presented with three rules for reading this book (“Don’t look at this book!” “Do look at your listener!” “Get your listener to look at you!”). But the true lesson is in the title itself: If anyone listening to this book laughs, you have to start it all over. Challenge accepted? Good. Sheer frenetic energy propels what passes for a narrative as the book uses every trick up its sleeve to give kids the giggles. Silly names, ridiculous premises, and kooky art combine, all attempting some level of hilarity. Bloch’s art provides a visual cacophony of collaged elements, all jostling for the audience’s attention. Heavily influenced by similar fourth wall–busting titles like The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (1992) by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith, and the more contemporary The Book With No Pictures (2014) by B.J. Novak, these attempts to win over readers and make them laugh will result in less giggles than one might imagine. In the end, the ultimate success of this book may rest less on the art or text and more on the strength of the reader’s presentation. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Desperation confused for hysterics. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-42488-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pedestrian.
Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.
Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
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