RALPH TELLS A STORY

Name: RALPH TELLS A STORY
Author: Abby Hanlon
ISBN: 978-0761461807

by Abby Hanlon & illustrated by Abby Hanlon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2012

An engaging mix of gentle behavior modeling and inventive story ideas that may well provide just the push needed to get some...

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With a little help from his audience, a young storyteller gets over a solid case of writer’s block in this engaging debut.

Despite the (sometimes creatively spelled) examples produced by all his classmates and the teacher’s assertion that “Stories are everywhere!” Ralph can’t get past putting his name at the top of his paper. One day, lying under the desk in despair, he remembers finding an inchworm in the park. That’s all he has, though, until his classmates’ questions—“Did it feel squishy?” “Did your mom let you keep it?” “Did you name it?”—open the floodgates for a rousing yarn featuring an interloping toddler, a broad comic turn and a dramatic rescue. Hanlon illustrates the episode with childlike scenes done in transparent colors, featuring friendly-looking children with big smiles and widely spaced button eyes. The narrative text is printed in standard type, but the children’s dialogue is rendered in hand-lettered printing within speech balloons. The episode is enhanced with a page of elementary writing tips and the tantalizing titles of his many subsequent stories (“When I Ate Too Much Spaghetti,” “The Scariest Hamster,” “When the Librarian Yelled Really Loud at Me,” etc.) on the back endpapers.

An engaging mix of gentle behavior modeling and inventive story ideas that may well provide just the push needed to get some budding young writers off and running. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2012

ISBN: 978-0761461807

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Amazon Children's Publishing

Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
CHESTER VAN CHIME WHO FORGOT HOW TO RHYME
by Avery Monsen ; illustrated by Abby Hanlon

- BOOK REVIEW
DORY FANTASMAGORY, HEAD IN THE CLOUDS
by Abby Hanlon ; illustrated by Abby Hanlon

- BOOK REVIEW
DORY DORY BLACK SHEEP
by Abby Hanlon ; illustrated by Abby Hanlon

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THOSE BUILDING MEN

by Angela Johnson & illustrated by Barry Moser ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2001

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Vague text and anemic pictures make this at best a half-hearted tribute to the construction workers of the last century or so. In her brief, poetic text Johnson writes of “those shadowy building men . . . moving the earth to connect water,” of “railroad workers . . . who were there to connect all.” She continues: “As buildings tower above us / they tell the tales / of the cities . . . They whisper down past it all and say, / ‘They built us, your fathers . . .’ ” There is little here to engage child readers, either intellectually or emotionally, and Moser’s remote, indistinct portraits of ordinary-looking men (only men) dressed in sturdy working clothes and, mostly, at rest, only intermittently capture any sense of individual or collective effort. In evident recognition of these inadequacies, a prose afterword has been added to explain what the book is about—a superfluous feature had Moser and Johnson produced work up to their usual standards. Let readers spend time more profitably with the likes of John Henry or Mike Mulligan. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-590-66521-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2000

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
A GIRL LIKE ME
by Angela Johnson ; illustrated by Nina Crews

- BOOK REVIEW
ALL DIFFERENT NOW
by Angela Johnson ; illustrated by E.B. Lewis

- BOOK REVIEW
LOTTIE PARIS AND THE BEST PLACE
by Angela Johnson ; illustrated by Scott M. Fischer

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PROBABLY PISTACHIO

by Stuart J. Murphy & illustrated by Marsha Winborn ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 31, 2001

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Jack is having a bad Monday morning in this MathStart (Level two) title, which painlessly slides probability into the story. Jack’s late for school; his dad is fixing lunch, which means he may get something he doesn’t like; and he gets milk all over his math homework. Finding out lunch is tuna fish (which he hates), Jack dreams of trading with Emma, a girl in his class who had pastrami four days last week (Jack’s favorite). He trades sandwiches with Emma without asking, and gets liverwurst, something even worse than tuna. Then he is off to after-school soccer, where he tries to decide where to stand in line so that he and his friend will be on the same team. Jack figures, based on past sessions, the coach will probably have them count off by twos, but again he is fooled as the coach has them count off by threes. Other probability opportunities include which snack hew will get, what’s for dinner, and what’s for dessert. The day ends pleasantly as Jack’s mother brings his favorite pistachio ice cream. The author includes an afterword with questions for adults and kids to reinforce the concept of probability. He also suggests games and activities to extend the concept. Colorful pencil and watercolor illustrations show an appealing group of interracial young children, parents, and teachers. Children will enjoy the story whether or not it helps their understanding of probability. The popular author of other MathStart titles (Missing Mittens, see above, etc.) will find a ready audience for this effort. (Nonfiction. 6-8)