An extravaganza for alphabetarians.
An A to Z of themed alphabets, each teeming with disarranged items or figures to spot.
It’s a word lover’s dream, as each of the large one- or two-page cartoon scenes—alphabetically arranged, of course—offers a minimum of 26 small but discernible “Birds” (from albatross to zebra finch), “Creepy-Crawlies” (aphid to zebra caterpillar), “Dinosaurs,” and so on up to “eXterrestrial” objects, “Yellow things,” and “Zoo” residents. In some cases the items are labeled; for others, indices, often pictorial, are in the borders or, to pose tougher challenges, tucked away in the back. Sanders admits at the outset to occasional fudging, such as making up “Queenmobile” to fill out his array of “Vehicles,” but he also promises sharp-eyed viewers a pair of underpants and a few other sly extras to spot in every scene. Not all of the alphabets feature human figures, but in those that do he employs a range of skin tones from stark white to several shades of pink, olive, and brown. He also includes an interracial (probably heterosexual) couple in “N is for Neighborhood” and dishes up a mostly gender-neutral gallery of occupations under “P is for People.”
An extravaganza for alphabetarians. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-78603-002-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sweet—and savory.
When a girl visits her grandmother, a writer and “grand friend,” she is seeking something special to share at show and tell on the first day of school.
Before Brook can explain, Mimi expresses concern that certain words describing the natural world will disappear if someone doesn’t care for and use them. (An author’s note explains the author’s motivation: She had read of the removal of 100 words about outdoor phenomena from the Oxford Junior Dictionary.) The duo sets out to search for and experience the 19 words on Mimi’s list, from “acorn” and “buttercup” to “violet” and “willow.” Kloepper’s soft illustrations feature green and brown earth tones that frame the white, matte pages; bursts of red, purple, and other spot colors enliven the scenes. Both Mimi and Brook are depicted as white. The expedition is described in vivid language, organized as free verse in single sentences or short paragraphs. Key words are printed in color in a larger display type and capital letters. Sensory details allow the protagonist to hear, see, smell, taste, and hold the wild: “ ‘Quick! Make a wish!’ said Mimi, / holding out a DANDELION, / fairy dust sitting on a stem. / ‘Blow on it and the seeds will fly. / Your tiny wishes in the air.’ ” It’s a day of wonder, with a touch of danger and a solution to Brook’s quest. The last page forms an envelope for readers’ own vocabulary collections.
Sweet—and savory. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7073-2
Page Count: 62
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent.
Wouldn’t the same housecat look very different to a dog and a mouse, a bee and a flea, a fox, a goldfish, or a skunk?
The differences are certainly vast in Wenzel’s often melodramatic scenes. Benign and strokable beneath the hand of a light-skinned child (visible only from the waist down), the brindled cat is transformed to an ugly, skinny slinker in a suspicious dog’s view. In a fox’s eyes it looks like delectably chubby prey but looms, a terrifying monster, over a cowering mouse. It seems a field of colored dots to a bee; jagged vibrations to an earthworm; a hairy thicket to a flea. “Yes,” runs the terse commentary’s refrain, “they all saw the cat.” Words in italics and in capital letters in nearly every line give said commentary a deliberate cadence and pacing: “The cat walked through the world, / with its whiskers, ears, and paws… // and the fish saw A CAT.” Along with inviting more reflective viewers to ruminate about perception and subjectivity, the cat’s perambulations offer elemental visual delights in the art’s extreme and sudden shifts in color, texture, and mood from one page or page turn to the next.
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5013-0
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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