This silly story turns convention on its head, and kids who get the joke will surely giggle.
Hordes of puppies take over the town of Strictville, and no one knows how to react.
Strictville has a very bold motto: “All Work and No Play Makes for a Great Day!” So when a tiny puppy wanders into town, it is seen as a menace. No cuteness or play allowed! But things grow worse when more and more puppies come. The dark-skinned, female mayor with fantastic cat-eye glasses shouts, “We must get rid of these adorable creatures!” The townsfolk try everything: throwing sticks (the puppies just bring them back), chasing them (the puppies love the game), and feeding them (that is when the tail-wagging starts). Ultimately, they decide the safest place is indoors, and everyone runs home. Until the tiniest puppy, with the biggest eyes, catches the attention of a brown-skinned boy named Teddy. The entire multiracial town peers out in horror from their windows while Teddy dares to shake the pup’s tiny, fuzzy paw. It is…delightful! Strictville becomes not so strict after all. Smith’s cartoonish people pair well with the mock mass hysteria of a puppy invasion, her tidy streetscapes teeming with puppies appropriately Twilight Zone–esque. Hints of a new cute creature coming to town just may shake things up again.
This silly story turns convention on its head, and kids who get the joke will surely giggle. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-99917-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet story about falling in love with reading.
Told from the point of view of the pet cat, this story shows a reading family and the incremental ways in which a child learns to love books.
A toddler-age boy and his father, who both have beige skin and brown hair, pick out a book every night to read before bed, and the cat thrills to know it’s “Rectangle Time.” That means a “furry nuzzle” against the corners of the book as the father reads The Snowy Day aloud to his child. Time passes with the page turns, marked in the narrative by the cat’s surprise to see the boy, now a bit older, reading an Encyclopedia Brown book on his own and, after that, the even older lad reading rectangles that are “awfully small” (squinting readers will see it’s The Hobbit). The cat’s self-centered but affectionate voice is entertaining as he remarks that the boy is so engaged in reading that he momentarily dismisses his pet. The story, with its warmly colored watercolor illustrations and expressive feline, feels like a primer for adults on how to get their kids to fall in love with books: The house is filled with them; the (apparently single) dad models reading; and he regularly read aloud to the boy before his son could do so himself. (The author, currently the New York Times Book Review editor, co-authored an actual primer, How To Raise a Reader, 2019, with María Russo, that outlet’s former children’s-books editor.) It’s not a story with a climax or falling action, but the resolution—in the end, the cat merely decides that sleeping on the boy’s face will do—will still satisfy readers, especially book and cat lovers everywhere. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
A sweet story about falling in love with reading. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11511-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A disappointing follow-up.
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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