Featuring more ground-level break dancing than groundbreaking narrative, this humorous children’s story puts a hip-hop spin...
“What dreams will you follow?” asks this hip-hop children’s book led by a break-dancing, rapping hippo complete with flat-top and track suit. What rhymes with perseverance?
Award-winning hip-hop artist and writer Akala has recently come to enjoy a renewed global presence with the viral status of internet videos featuring his enlightening perspectives on racism and injustice. In this picture book, he brings his supreme MC skills to the page. This tale, made especially for read-aloud or rap-aloud sessions, takes his rhyming prowess and places it in the persona of a hippo aptly named Hip, whose personal style seems to be a mashup of 1980s rap acts Run-DMC and Big Daddy Kane. The audience for his raps? None other than his bird friend Hop, who rocks sneakers and a backward-fitted cap but lacks confidence in his bike-riding abilities. How can he possibly win the Blueberry Hill bike race? Hip’s rhyming motivation can only be compared to current hip-hop standout DJ Khaled. “You can do anything if you try / You can do anything, ride or fly. / Don’t let anybody tell you no. / Focus on your dreams and go!” Readers know this story and how it ends. What news will amuse will be the spices the verse entices as it’s read aloud. Akyüz’s vibrant illustrations will push readers to stretch for those performance points.
Featuring more ground-level break dancing than groundbreaking narrative, this humorous children’s story puts a hip-hop spin on the plot staple of “practice makes perfect”—fun to read, best to rhyme. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61067-683-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
This should send Dark Knight fans flying to the Batcave—or the bedroom.
Holy bedtime, Batman!
In a sleepy-looking neighborhood under a dusky cerulean sky, a young, brown-haired, white boy goes through the motions of getting ready for bed: he brushes his teeth, takes a bath, picks up his toys, and feeds his fish. In a parallel visual narrative, beckoned by the cat's-eye–yellow bat-signal, Batman keeps Gotham safe for another night by catching crooks, locking them away, and avenging those who have been wronged. Though the two characters are quite different, through a carefully flexible narrative, Dahl and Beavers weave a convincing tale of just how similar they might be. “It’s time to take care of business” describes the child’s trip to the potty and Batman’s dive down a manhole equally well, for instance. Beavers' art is visually striking and vibrantly hued, perfect for keeping young eyes glued to each page. Dahl's economical text is cadenced with a gentle lilt, just right for a bedtime read-aloud. Young fans of the caped crusader will delight in spying their favorite characters. In the already-overstuffed bedtime-book market, this is certainly a niche read, but it hits its mark well, delivering fun without darkness. A “bedtime checklist” at the end aptly includes “story time.”
This should send Dark Knight fans flying to the Batcave—or the bedroom. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62370-732-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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