Good fractured fun
A Wild West spin on the classic fairy tale.
Little Jack loves barbecue; he'd ride his pony across the West Texas mountains for a taste of fine ribs. He brings his mother to tears when he asks her to make some for him, and she tells Jack the sad tale of his daddy. He made the finest barbecue for miles around until a mean giant came and stole daddy's recipe book, leaving him so heartbroken that he shriveled up and died. Jack makes a vow on the spot. The next morning, he rides his pony to Mount Pecos and starts his arduous climb. At the top is the giant's barbecue restaurant, all rundown, dirty and busted-up. The giant sits in a back room, eating his fill of barbecue. Daddy's book sits in a slot of a magic jukebox, which is hankering to escape. When the giant falls asleep, Jack makes a quick getaway, riding the jukebox like a stallion. Before long, the giant jerks awake and gives chase in his pickup, across the clouds. He's going so fast that his truck smashes into the mountains, flattening them. It's been that way ever since. And Jack? He opens a restaurant with Ma, where the jukebox happily plays. Mmm! It's a rollicking adaptation, with many amusing tall-tale touches. Manders' illustrations, in gouache and colored pencil, match the energy of the text.
Good fractured fun . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7614-6128-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2012
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the...
An all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades.
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the streets in the time-honored stiff-armed, stiff-legged fashion. McDonald signals her intent on page one: “Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie’s eye fell off and rolled across the floor.” The farce is as broad as the Atlantic, with enough spookiness just below the surface to provide the all-important shivers. Accompanied by Reynolds’ drawings—dozens of scene-setting gems with good, creepy living dead—McDonald shapes chapters around zombie motifs: making zombie costumes, eating zombie fare at school, reading zombie books each other to reach the one-million-minutes-of-reading challenge. When the zombie walk happens, it delivers solid zombie awfulness. McDonald’s feel-good tone is deeply encouraging for readers to get up and do this for themselves because it looks like so much darned fun, while the sub-message—that reading grows “strong hearts and minds,” as well as teeth and bones—is enough of a vital interest to the story line to be taken at face value.Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5692-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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