Not a keeper.
A flashy, if superficial, gallery of ocean life.
Darting or undulating through the same underwater scene, groups of octopuses, jellyfish, sea turtles and seven other types of sea life swim into view. In addition to the bubbly ambient music that plays in the background, they squeak like rubber duckies, bleat fetchingly or emit electronic tones when tapped. A touch on each screen—except the one with clownfish, which requires playing an entire, finicky timing game—brings up an overlaid all-caps text with facts. Broadly interpreted, these include such tidbits as “Sharks are used in popular culture as eating machines,” predators that eat pufferfish will find their stomachs “full of poisin” [sic], and dolphins are known for “protecting swimmers from sharks by swimming circles around the swimmers.” There is no way to advance until the text appears and no way to go back at all. The 3-D figures are modeled in realistic detail and move naturally, but any attention they catch will flag quickly thanks to the paltry slate of interactive effects and the clumsily worded informational content.
Not a keeper. (Requires iPad 2 and above.) (iPad informational app. 6-8)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: EnsenaSoft
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2014
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off.
This rocket hopes to take its readers on a birthday blast—but there may or may not be enough fuel.
Once a year, a one-seat rocket shoots out from Earth. Why? To reveal a special congratulatory banner for a once-a-year event. The second-person narration puts readers in the pilot’s seat and, through a (mostly) ballad-stanza rhyme scheme (abcb), sends them on a journey toward the sun, past meteors, and into the Kuiper belt. The final pages include additional information on how birthdays are measured against the Earth’s rotations around the sun. Collingridge aims for the stars with this title, and he mostly succeeds. The rhyme scheme flows smoothly, which will make listeners happy, but the illustrations (possibly a combination of paint with digital enhancements) may leave the viewers feeling a little cold. The pilot is seen only with a 1960s-style fishbowl helmet that completely obscures the face, gender, and race by reflecting the interior of the rocket ship. This may allow readers/listeners to picture themselves in the role, but it also may divest them of any emotional connection to the story. The last pages—the backside of a triple-gatefold spread—label the planets and include Pluto. While Pluto is correctly labeled as a dwarf planet, it’s an unusual choice to include it but not the other dwarfs: Ceres, Eris, etc. The illustration also neglects to include the asteroid belt or any of the solar system’s moons.
A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 31, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-18949-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: David Fickling/Phoenix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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