A fey piece of whimsy takes a lighthearted look at child labor. The village of Ear, nestled in the Your Valley, is famed for the excellence of its hand—er, foot—stomped grape juice. Into Ear is born Sixto, named because he has six toes on each foot. When Boss Nova Boombatz spies those extra toes, he quickly sees their possibilities and puts polite little Sixto (who would really rather play) to work as a grape stomper, building ever-bigger vats to nudge Sixto’s efforts into the record books. Potter has fun with the text, giving Boombatz a distinctly Mafioso air and dyeing Sixto and the other grape stompers a delicate shade of purple. All the characters wear her trademark old-people faces, giving all the Earians an appealingly ageless appearance. Madison’s resolution is as silly as the premise itself: A deluge of juice, stomped by Sixto in an enormous cistern, floods the Your Valley, creating the Grape Lakes and sweeping Boombatz away. Kids will enjoy both Sixto’s triumph and the overall goofiness of this small tall tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2007
ISBN: 0-375-83675-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
One of the watershed moments in African-American history—the defeat of James Braddock at the hands of Joe Louis—is here given an earnest picture-book treatment. Despite his lack of athletic ability, Sammy wants desperately to be a great boxer, like his hero, getting boxing lessons from his friend Ernie in exchange for help with schoolwork. However hard he tries, though, Sammy just can’t box, and his father comforts him, reminding him that he doesn’t need to box: Joe Louis has shown him that he “can be the champion at anything [he] want[s].” The high point of this offering is the big fight itself, everyone crowded around the radio in Mister Jake’s general store, the imagined fight scenes played out in soft-edged sepia frames. The main story, however, is so bent on providing Sammy and the reader with object lessons that all subtlety is lost, as Mister Jake, Sammy’s father, and even Ernie hammer home the message. Both text and oil-on-canvas-paper illustrations go for the obvious angle, making the effort as a whole worthy, but just a little too heavy-handed. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2004
ISBN: 1-58430-161-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
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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