A memorably fine example of amusement and instruction
A piece of chewing gum by the name of Green gets an entomology lesson when he escapes from the pack.
A candy-coated piece of gum’s fate is fraught: “Imagine, one minute you and your friends are enjoying a sleepover and the next you’re in a horrible, slimy mouth.” Green would rather be a bug in the garden. His friends help him make his wish real. Once in the garden, he meets up with a grasshopper, a Japanese beetle and a caterpillar, each with talents both spooky and fascinating. When they are swept up and put in a collection jar, Green gets to display a very special talent of his own. This is a short app, with a Zen-like simplicity of focus, spidery lines and washed colors that together defy the unlikely premise. Each page has a pulsing orb that lets readers trigger some action: Green is jettisoned from the package, whispery skulls rise from the leaf being eaten by the beetle—illustrating the word “skeletonising,” just one of a half dozen juicy words (mandible, dazzling) comfortably worked into the text—a butterfly net sweeps through the air—plus a couple with slapstick qualities. Green’s progress through the garden has its share of lessons, such as using your natural abilities, though it is plain engaging in its own right.
A memorably fine example of amusement and instruction . (iPad storybook app. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Happy Ink Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2012
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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