Fun, cute illustrations bring this simple story to life.
Wicks (Pepe and Seymour’s Adventure, 2009) delivers a charming children’s book paired with delightful illustrations by Essa, structured around the adventures of a princess and her new friend, a rare purple and white “drageena.”
Told in nine small episodes, these quick, often silly adventures showcase Princess Awemina, whose loneliness prompts Prince Mineko to seek out a drageena—a sort of half-dog, half-dragon with tiny wings and a detachable nose—to be her friend and companion while he’s off attending to his princely duties. Though this may seem like a typical fantasy/adventure setup, once the drageena comes into the story, she takes over, and the princess and the drageena’s adventures charmingly become the book’s focus. Drageenas find adventure irresistible, no matter how big or small the escapade may be. The two friends search for cookies, shoes, and blockleberries, the grape-looking fruit drageenas prefer. The drageena decides on a name for herself, hunts for another drageena’s lost nose, participates in a blockleberry pie-eating contest and looks for a home. The divergent, fast-paced adventures allow readers to watch Awemina and the drageena’s friendship blossom. The adventures aren’t big, broad or sweeping; they’re similar to the day-to-day activities of ordinary people, such as having a picnic and trying on shoes. It’s somewhat unusual to find a relatable story about royalty and imaginary creatures, so young readers will appreciate the ability to tag along. Essa’s simple, colorful illustrations enjoyably mix a hand-drawn aesthetic with digital backgrounds, and young readers will appreciate the characters’ expressiveness.
Fun, cute illustrations bring this simple story to life.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2012
ISBN: 978-1468035865
Page Count: 56
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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