The disparate visual and textual mélange of misinformation renders this well-intended but off-the-mark title skippable.
In this child’s introduction to Mexico, Juan prepares for the Cinco de Mayo festivities in his town.
A family of non–Spanish-speaking white tourists arrives, saying, “Taco? Taco?” Juan correctly guesses that they want—wait for it—tacos! As Juan shows the tourist family around, Yoon proceeds to provide facts about the Mexican culture, people, and food. Unfortunately, much of this information is either inaccurate or misleading. She claims that salsa is ground chili pepper “mixed with bell peppers, vinegar, and sugar” and asserts that Mexicans eat Tex-Mex food such as “chip-like nachos.” The simplistic declaration that the Aztecs “are the ancestors of the Mexican people,” when there were many different civilizations far older than the Aztecs such as the Olmecs, Zapotecs, and Maya, is worthy of a grade school report. The text’s awkward English phrasing also disrupts the narrative: “Juan, look at all those valuable corn.” Corr’s bright, primitive illustrations are colorful and lively but likewise misleading. Even taking into account artistic license, there is nothing to account for the anomalous placement of the Yucatán Peninsula’s Chichen Itzá and the central Mexican volcano Popocatepetl in the same landscape as the maguey plants of Tequila, Jalisco. Spanish flamenco dancers incongruously fill the Mexican plaza, and the male characters’ clothing and facial features are from all over the Caribbean, Latin America, and beyond.
The disparate visual and textual mélange of misinformation renders this well-intended but off-the-mark title skippable. (further information) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-939248-12-1
Page Count: 38
Publisher: TanTan
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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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