Parents will enjoy this book’s gentle tone and brevity, while children will like zooming along with this dragon before...
A simple read-aloud picture book about a boy and his dragon.
Hovaguimian (Deep in the Woods, 2011) uses simple, rhyming text in this bedtime read. The book is similar to the classic Goodnight, Moon (it even includes a final illustration that bears a striking resemblance to the window on the cover of that book) but incorporates the interesting addition of a big green dragon as the narrator. The friendly dragon describes his and young Henry’s nighttime practice of flying through the house, out into the world and up into the sky before returning safely to bed. The text is brief, and most pages contain no more than a short sentence. Liotta’s bright watercolor illustrations accompany the text, showing the dragon, Henry and the different sights (a cat, peas, the starry sky) the pair sees on their travels. The illustrations use an appealing free-form style, though the visible pencil sketch lines sometimes create an amateurish effect. Rhymes are sometimes nonsensical: “Over the bed of Fred / Over the sink, / over the ink, / over Dorsey / the horsey.” The nonsense rhymes don’t seem to fit the book, which has a soothing rather than silly tone. While this is a classic bedtime story, it’s worth pointing out that Henry and the dragon’s nightly excursions occur after the pair has gone to sleep, suggesting they’ve gotten out of bed in the night or, more likely, are dreaming about their nightly flights. Children will likely allow the illustrations to fuel their own imaginative dragon dreams.
Parents will enjoy this book’s gentle tone and brevity, while children will like zooming along with this dragon before falling asleep.Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2013
ISBN: 978-1492981961
Page Count: 32
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2014
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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