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THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE

Name: THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE
Author: Aesop

by Aesop & developed by TabTale ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 6, 2011

Plenty of superficial child appeal, but the writer and the illustrator remain deservedly cloaked in anonymity.

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Bright, busy and oh-so-bland cartoons positively festooned with touch-activated effects carry this newly rhymed version of the classic fable.

No one's going to visit this for the labored text. It sacrifices scansion to rhyme, pounds the moral home and ends on a trite note (“Tortoise and Hare remain friends to this day, / Enjoying the sunshine as they work and play”). At least it, along with the relentlessly chipper British narrator, can be switched off—unlike the sound effects and the brassy, short-looped musical track. Children are likely to care less about the plot anyway than the interactions. They can make the racers and many of the animal onlookers in the woodsy scenes leap and giggle, hiss, chirp, chuckle, nod, cheer, pant, flap wings, blink or (even Tortoise does this, and during the actual race, too) pop into and out of shells with a touch. In service to repeat visitors who may be less interested in the story than in the effects, a button visible on every screen in both the manual and the “Auto Play” options opens a menu with access to a strip of thumbnails to expedite fast navigation. That same menu, plus multiple links at beginning and end offer easy access to the publisher’s other titles in the App Store.

Plenty of superficial child appeal, but the writer and the illustrator remain deservedly cloaked in anonymity. (iPad storybook app. 4-6)

Pub Date: May 6, 2011

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: TabTale

Review Posted Online: May 26, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011

- BOOK REVIEW
AESOP'S FABLES
by Aesop ; adapted by West ; illustrated by Ayano Imai

- BOOK REVIEW
THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE
by Aesop & retold by Helen Ward & illustrated by Helen Ward

- BOOK REVIEW
AESOP'S TALES
by Aesop & adapted by Gerardo Casanova & translated by Emma Hedley & developed by Progetto Rosetta

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THERE'S A ROCK CONCERT IN MY BEDROOM

by Kevin Jonas & Danielle Jonas ; illustrated by Courtney Dawson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 29, 2022

Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.

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Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.

Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: March 29, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin

Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

- BOOK REVIEW
THERE'S A BEACH IN MY BEDROOM
by Kevin Jonas & Danielle Jonas ; illustrated by Courtney Dawson

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RUBY FINDS A WORRY

From the Big Bright Feelings series

by Tom Percival ; illustrated by Tom Percival ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2019

A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their...

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Ruby is an adventurous and happy child until the day she discovers a Worry.

Ruby barely sees the Worry—depicted as a blob of yellow with a frowny unibrow—at first, but as it hovers, the more she notices it and the larger it grows. The longer Ruby is affected by this Worry, the fewer colors appear on the page. Though she tries not to pay attention to the Worry, which no one else can see, ignoring it prevents her from enjoying the things that she once loved. Her constant anxiety about the Worry causes the bright yellow blob to crowd Ruby’s everyday life, which by this point is nearly all washes of gray and white. But at the playground, Ruby sees a boy sitting on a bench with a growing sky-blue Worry of his own. When she invites the boy to talk, his Worry begins to shrink—and when Ruby talks about her own Worry, it also grows smaller. By the book’s conclusion, Ruby learns to control her Worry by talking about what worries her, a priceless lesson for any child—or adult—conveyed in a beautifully child-friendly manner. Ruby presents black, with hair in cornrows and two big afro-puff pigtails, while the boy has pale skin and spiky black hair.

A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their feelings (. (Picture book. 4-6)