Finn’s summer visit to “famous rocket scientist” Doctor Gass is a serious and glorious adventure. Illustrated energetically with cheerful watercolors and bold outlines, every page offers a new use of space. At first, his host disappoints Finn: Doctor Gass’s own rockets, kept in “a very secret and unusual place,” turn out to exist only in his head, and he answers Finn’s questions about outer space with disappointingly grounded information. The moon is made of rock, he explains, not cheese, and furthermore, “There is no supper on the moon.” One midnight, however, a Night Thing comes to Finn’s window and invites him to the Man in the Moon’s birthday party. Transportation is by way of the red rocket on the roof (which Doctor Gass, in daylight, had explained away as a water tank), and Finn easily reaches the moon. The Man in the Moon, whose elegant resemblance to Doctor Gass goes unmentioned, hosts the bounciest, most joyful party Finn could have hoped for, complete with a hunt through shimmery moon caves, a picnic that tastes “like nothing on earth,” and a tune on a “pale violin.” Terrific use of watercolor renders environments beautifully multicolored, while black outlines maintain clarity and emotion. Lest readers fear that Finn’s trip was a dream, Doctor Gass discovers incontrovertible evidence the next morning. Crisp writing, top-notch composition, and exuberant illustrations from blueprint endpaper to blueprint endpaper. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7613-1888-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2003
A disappointing follow-up.
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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