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A BEAN, A STALK AND A BOY NAMED JACK

Name: A BEAN, A STALK AND A BOY NAMED JACK
Author: William Joyce
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7349-2

by William Joyce ; illustrated by William Joyce ; Kenny Callicutt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 7, 2014

Engrossing illustrations and quirky humor, hitched to Joyce’s renown, will earn this its audience.

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Moonbot Studios collaborators Joyce and Callicutt royally fracture the familiar folk tale in this high-concept romp.

A cheeky narration, played for laughs, introduces a “smallish kid with the smallish name of Jack” in a drought-stricken kingdom. When the king, dirty as anyone, demands his subjects cry enough tears to wash his “stinky” pinky toe, the embarrassed young princess implores the “local old wizard guy” to “PAH-LEEZE, do something magical.” The wizard reads, thinks, draws, does some math and magic—and zaps a bean (who’s then able to verbalize its own planting instructions) off to Jack. The resultant vine’s so thick it dominates a double-page spread. Jack, climbing with Bean (now a pod—no botany lesson here), encounters a “smallish giant kid named Don” taking a leisurely bath. When bath and visit end, Jack returns via tub drain. Joyce and Callicutt’s accomplished multimedia visuals show ensuing waterfalls (which render the king’s pinky “unstinky”) and rainfall, lubricating the kingdom once more. The pictures are both epic (see the tub’s prodigious plumbing) and infused with minutiae: A talismanic redheaded bird accompanies Jack throughout. Bean’s word balloons are leaf-shaped; Jack’s, like his shepherd’s staff. In some sly concluding business, Jack invites the princess (“you can call me Jill”) up the hill to fetch water for thirsty Bean. “The End…sorta.”

Engrossing illustrations and quirky humor, hitched to Joyce’s renown, will earn this its audience. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-4424-7349-2

Page Count: 56

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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OLLIE'S ODYSSEY
by William Joyce ; illustrated by William Joyce

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JACK FROST
by William Joyce ; illustrated by William Joyce & Andrew Theophilopoulos

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BILLY'S BOOGER
by William Joyce ; illustrated by William Joyce

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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THE BIG CHEESE

From the Food Group series

by Jory John ; illustrated by Pete Oswald ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 2023

From curds to riches, from meltdown to uplift—this multicourse romp delivers.

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A winning wheel of cheddar with braggadocio to match narrates a tale of comeuppance and redemption.

From humble beginnings among kitchen curds living “quiet lives of pasteurization,” the Big Cheese longs to be the best and builds success and renown based on proven skills and dependable results: “I stuck to the things I was good at.” When newcomer Wedge moves to the village of Curds-on-Whey, the Cheese’s star status wobbles and falls. Turns out that quiet, modest Wedge is also multitalented. At the annual Cheese-cathlon, Wedge bests six-time winner Cheese in every event, from the footrace and chess to hat making and bread buttering. A disappointed Cheese throws a full-blown tantrum before arriving at a moment of truth: Self-calming, conscious breathing permits deep relief that losing—even badly—does not result in disaster. A debrief with Wedge “that wasn’t all about me” leads to further realizations: Losing builds empathy for others; obsession with winning obscures “the joy of participating.” The chastened cheddar learns to reserve bragging for lifting up friends, because anyone can be the Big Cheese. More didactic and less pun-rich than previous entries in the Food Group series, this outing nevertheless couples a cheerful refrain with pithy life lessons that hit home. Oswald’s detailed, comical illustrations continue to provide laughs, including a spot with Cheese onstage doing a “CHED” talk.

From curds to riches, from meltdown to uplift—this multicourse romp delivers. (Picture book. 4-8)