First published in Italy 40 years ago, this picture book challenges sexism with a story about an anthropomorphic elephant who subverts her community’s notions about what girls should look like and how they should behave.
The titular phrase “candy pink” refers to the skin color of female elephants in this story, which comes from their diet of flowers. A metaphorical introduction of socially constructed gender norms finds boy elephants allowed to roam free and eat what they choose, while girls remain in a fenced garden. Daisy is “slightly different from the other girl elephants,” and even though she eats “peonies and anemones” like the other girls, her skin remains gray. This greatly displeases her parents, and it also pokes holes in constructivist ideology—why don’t social pressures and norms affect her the same way they do others? Is there some essential difference in her? Ultimately, Daisy’s parents give up and abandon her to her own devices. She sheds her pink, girly clothing and runs free, eating and doing as she wishes. The other girls are initially “frightened…worried…[and] bewildered,” but then they become jealous and leave the enclosure. Curiously, there are no ramifications for this subversive behavior, and, liberated, they all turn gray. Cartoonish illustrations are largely redundant of the message-driven text, though other animals appear as observers to the elephants’ story.
A simplistic, well-meaning tale. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-84-944318-9-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: nubeOCHO
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Hee haw.
19
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The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A porcine hoarder of books learns to read—and to share.
The Book Hog’s obsession is clear from the start. Short declarative sentences describe his enthusiasm (“The Book Hog loved books”), catalog the things he likes about the printed page, and eventually reveal his embarrassing secret (“He didn’t know how to read”). While the text is straightforward, plenty of amusing visual details will entertain young listeners. A picture of the Book Hog thumbing through a book while seated on the toilet should induce some giggles. The allusive name of a local bookshop (“Wilbur’s”) as well as the covers of a variety of familiar and much-loved books (including some of the author’s own) offer plenty to pore over. And the fact that the titles become legible only after our hero learns to read is a particularly nice touch. A combination of vignettes, single-page illustrations and double-page spreads that feature Pizzoli’s characteristic style—heavy black outlines, a limited palette of mostly salmon and mint green, and simple shapes—move the plot along briskly. Librarians will appreciate the positive portrayal of Miss Olive, an elephant who welcomes the Book Hog warmly to storytime, though it’s unlikely most will be able to match her superlative level of service.
There’s nothing especially new here, but the good-natured celebration of books, reading, and libraries will charm fellow bibliophiles, and the author’s fans will enjoy making another anthropomorphic animal friend. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-03689-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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