Moral of the story: an excess of imagination may get you into trouble, but it’s clearly worth it.
The perils of imagination reach their peak when a little girl unleashes an extraordinary ability.
The daughter of two sane, sedate, dull-as-dishwater parents, pale-skinned, red-haired Poppy Pickle cultivates a magnificent imagination that goes unappreciated. Sent to clean her room, Poppy instead discovers that she now has the ability to bring whatever she imagines to life. From a monocled mammoth and a “philosophical beaver” to an “uptight garden gnome,” Poppy allows her thoughts to go wild. Too wild, as it happens. All methods of dispersing the loony troupe prove ineffective, until Poppy imagines something simple: a door. Her parents, aghast at the wreckage left behind in her room, don’t believe a word of Poppy’s explanation. That is, until that monocled mammoth makes a significant reappearance. Poppy’s desperation to hide her horde is a bit inexplicable, as she’s clearly in more trouble without them than with them. That quibble aside, Yarlett renders Poppy as an irrepressible and irresistible ball of energy. There’s little difficulty believing she’d conjure up a ghost octopus (or “ghostopus”) given half the chance. The art, akin to that of Oliver Jeffers, is filled with tiny details that also add to the fun, and the creatures’ dialogue, spoken in bubbles, will elicit chuckles.
Moral of the story: an excess of imagination may get you into trouble, but it’s clearly worth it. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8911-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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