A worthy idea presented without flair.
A rhinoceros and a rhinoceros beetle feature in this picture book imported from Spain.
Striving for more wisdom than the story delivers, author/illustrator Serra uses the rhinoceros and the rhinoceros beetle to illustrate that while creatures may be different, they also have similarities. The story begins with a double-page long shot showing a tiny rhinoceros contemplating the enormous moon. “There are moments when the world feels small,” says the text, and the page turn shows another double-page spread of a foregrounded rhinoceros beetle facing the sun, which looks small by comparison: “And other times when it feels huge.” This observation, while not startling, could be the springboard for an original storyline. Alas, it is not. “Sometimes we sink,” is followed by the clichéd “But sometimes we can soar.” When the rhinoceros and the beetle meet, “We’ll understand that we are unique.” How they will understand this when the illustration shows the beetle on the rhino’s tail looking at the rhino’s rear end is not immediately clear. Serra’s illustrations combine sharp-edged collaged shapes for the beetle and flora with a scribbly drawing style for the rhinoceros, and these two very different techniques don’t meld well visually. The theme that creatures can be different but also similar tries but doesn’t extend beyond the obvious, and the reach for the universal in similarity in the final line—that we all share the same planet—lacks impact.
A worthy idea presented without flair. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5527-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
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. 28, 2018
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BOOK REVIEW
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