LITTLE RED HOOD

Name: LITTLE RED HOOD
Author: Marjolaine Leray
ISBN: 978-1-907912-00-9

by Marjolaine Leray ; translated by Sarah Ardizzone ; illustrated by Marjolaine Leray ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2013

It definitely conveys a sense of power and control that small children in red cloaks don’t often get to enjoy. Gruesomely...

bookshelf

Two colors, minimal words, no grandma and a role reversal make for an eye-opening take on the traditional story.

The wolf is huge, angular, spiky. Red is tiny and round, a single line for a nose representing her features. Action starts immediately as the wolf swoops her up and announces, tying a napkin around his neck, that she is dinner. Threatened with the stew pot, Red engages him in the traditional grandma’s-cottage dialogue, pointing out what big eyes and ears and teeth he has, while he threatens her with ever-larger gestures. When he says, “[A]ll the better to eat you with!!!” she says, no, he has stinky breath. “I do?” She offers him a sweet. He swallows it and then—dies, very dramatically indeed. The last page—actually the final endpaper—faces Red directly at readers as she states, “[F]ool!” The minimalist pictures (the wolf and his words are black, Red and her words are red) are energetically scribbled on a white background, and the wolf’s end is fairly bloody, as children’s books go. Originally published in French and then in English in the U.K., it is as subversive a telling as can be imagined. In this country, it might be more appropriate for teens than children. Maybe.

It definitely conveys a sense of power and control that small children in red cloaks don’t often get to enjoy. Gruesomely satisfying. (Picture book. 6-12)

Pub Date: June 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-907912-00-9

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Phoenix/Trafalgar

Review Posted Online: April 9, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREAT GRRRRR
by Marie-Sabine Roger ; illustrated by Marjolaine Leray ; translated by Angus Yuen-Killick

bookshelf

JAKE THE FAKE KEEPS IT REAL

From the Jake the Fake series , Vol. 1

by Craig Robinson & Adam Mansbach ; illustrated by Keith Knight ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 28, 2017

A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid.

bookshelf

Black sixth-grader Jake Liston can only play one song on the piano. He can’t read music very well, and he can’t improvise. So how did Jake get accepted to the Music and Art Academy? He faked it.

Alongside an eclectic group of academy classmates, and with advice from his best friend, Jake tries to fit in at a school where things like garbage sculpting and writing art reviews of bird poop splatter are the norm. All is well until Jake discovers that the end-of-the-semester talent show is only two weeks away, and Jake is short one very important thing…talent. Or is he? It’s up to Jake to either find the talent that lies within or embarrass himself in front of the entire school. Light and humorous, with Knight’s illustrations adding to the fun, Jake’s story will likely appeal to many middle-grade readers, especially those who might otherwise be reluctant to pick up a book. While the artsy antics may be over-the-top at times, this is a story about something that most preteens can relate to: the struggle to find your authentic self. And in a world filled with books about wanting to fit in with the athletically gifted supercliques, this novel unabashedly celebrates the artsy crowd in all of its quirky, creative glory.

A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: March 28, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-553-52351-5

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

bookshelf

THIS IS A GOOD STORY

by Adam Lehrhaupt ; illustrated by Magali Le Huche ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 12, 2017

Best for readers who have clearly indicated they would like to take their writing efforts to the next level.

bookshelf

A young white girl writes and illustrates a story, which is critiqued by the narrator as it is created.

The girl begins her story by drawing a Hero. Then she thinks maybe a Heroine would be better. Then she decides both will work. She places them in “a good town, filled with good people, called our Setting.” The narrator, an unseen editor who lurks over the artist’s shoulder, tells the storyteller she needs to put in some Conflict, make the Evil Overlord scarier, and give it better action. This tongue-in-cheek way of delivering the rules of creative writing is clever, and paired with Le Huche’s earnest, childlike illustrations, it seems to be aimed at giving helpful direction to aspiring young creators (although the illustrations are not critiqued). But the question needs to be asked: do very young writers really need to know the rules of writing as determined by adults? While the story appears to be about helping young readers learn writing—there is “A Friendly List of Words Used in this Book” at the end with such words as “protagonist” and “antagonist” (glossed as “Hero and Heroine” and “Evil Overlord,” respectively)—it also has a decidedly unhelpful whiff of judgment. Rules, the text seems to say, must be followed for the story to be a Good one. Ouch.

Best for readers who have clearly indicated they would like to take their writing efforts to the next level. (Picture book. 6-10)