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TOO MANY LATKES

Name: TOO MANY LATKES
Author: Richard Codor

by Richard Codor & illustrated by Richard Codor & developed by Behrman House Publishing ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 18, 2011

One of many tales featuring an overabundance of latkes, but properly festive (in the end, at least) and with digital...

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The first night of Hanukkah turns out to be anything but restful for a poor family, thanks to an overenthusiastic magic potato.

The single spud that a little man hands Dad as he’s coming home from the pencil factory doesn’t seem like much to the four Smalls. “Maybe next time he could also spare an onion,” says Mom. But the one latke she makes turns into five in the pan—and later that night, the single leftover reproduces so exuberantly that the house fills up, pushing the two children out the window and stranding them high atop a teetering tower of taters. The neighbors and Emergency Services personnel are helpless, until the little man reappears to suggest that everyone should just chow down. Along with simple cartoon illustrations that pulse or toggle between two scenes with a tap and the occasional tilt-activated animation, the app offers a self-record option to go with the silent mode or a warm audio narration. Icons lead to four easy side games, from a spinnable dreidel to candles and a menorah with the blessings presented both in English and also spoken or sung Hebrew.

One of many tales featuring an overabundance of latkes, but properly festive (in the end, at least) and with digital enhancements that give this edition a leg up over the forgettable print version (2011). (iPad storybook app. 6-8)

Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2011

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Behrman House Publishing

Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2011

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HENRY AND MUDGE AND THE STARRY NIGHT

From the Henry and Mudge series

by Cynthia Rylant & illustrated by Sucie Stevenson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1998

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Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-689-81175-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
ROSETOWN FOREVER
by Cynthia Rylant

- BOOK REVIEW
A BOOK OF LOVES
by Cynthia Rylant ; illustrated by Cynthia Rylant

- BOOK REVIEW
HORNBEAM BY AND LARGE
by Cynthia Rylant ; illustrated by Arthur Howard

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BIG CHICKENS

by Leslie Helakoski & illustrated by Henry Cole ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2006

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With wordplay reminiscent of Margie Palatini at her best, Helakoski takes four timorous chickens into, then out of, the literal and figurative woods. Fleeing the henhouse after catching sight of a wolf, the pusillanimous pullets come to a deep ditch: “ ‘What if we can’t jump that far?’ ‘What if we fall in the ditch?’ ‘What if we get sucked into the mud?’ The chickens tutted, putted, and flutted. They butted into themselves and each other, until one by one . . . ” they do fall in. But then they pick themselves up and struggle out. Ensuing encounters with cows and a lake furnish similar responses and outcomes; ultimately they tumble into the wolf’s very cave, where they “picked, pecked, and pocked. They ruffled, puffled, and shuffled. They shrieked, squeaked, and freaked, until . . . ” their nemesis scampers away in panic. Fluttering about in pop-eyed terror, the portly, partly clothed hens make comical figures in Cole’s sunny cartoons (as does the flummoxed wolf)—but the genuine triumph in their final strut—“ ‘I am a big, brave chicken,’ said one chicken. ‘Ohh . . . ’ said the others. ‘Me too.’ ‘Me three.’ ‘Me four’ ”—brings this tribute to chicken power to a rousing close. (Picture book. 6-8)