In the end, it’s hard not to love a main character who wears a one-man-band outfit to the library, in case he finds a very...
It’s difficult to describe the Claude books without using the word surreal. The new book in the series may be the sweetest surrealist children’s book ever published.
Claude’s best friend is a sock. Sir Bobblysock is very nattily dressed, and Smith gets a lot of mileage out of one joke, putting the sock in ever more absurd outfits. Sir Bobblysock wears pajamas, then earmuffs, and there’s a reference to a “glitzy leotard” he puts on before aerobics class. Most of the humor in the book comes from one basic premise: This would never, ever happen in real life. Sometimes the joke works. It’s very funny when a girl suggests Claude use a tea tray as a sled, and readers learn that “He always kept one in his beret—with a full tea set just in case there was a tea-based emergency.” It’s less funny to read about Sir Bobblysock’s bunion and his session in a heated foot spa. Instead of laughing, kids may say, “What’s a bunion?” or, “That would never, ever happen in real life.” Much too often, the book is perplexing instead of amusing. But there’s no denying that Claude is sweet and charming, and Sir Bobblysock looks fantastic in his checkered nightcap.
In the end, it’s hard not to love a main character who wears a one-man-band outfit to the library, in case he finds a very exciting book. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-56145-805-9
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There are more than 150 kinds of ducks, divided into two types: diving ducks and dabbling ducks. Gibbons briefly describes and illustrates both kinds, then presents the lifecycle of the familiar mallard dabbling duck in greater detail. She explains the different ways of migration, the return to build nests, lay and incubate eggs, and hatch ducklings, which then grow to repeat the cycle. The last section discusses domesticated ducks and makes a case for protecting those in the wild. Gibbons provides detailed watercolors on every page with handsome portraits of many different ducks, labeled for identification of parts as well as types. The main text is placed on white space at the bottom, leaving room for the lovely drawings. While each picture does not fill the page, Gibbons's trademark pieces break through the borders and extend the scenes. One quibble: the duckling emerging from the egg appears to be fluffy and dry, while in reality a newly emerged duckling is slippery wet. A final page concludes with additional interesting facts about ducks. Young readers will enjoy this appealing introduction to the familiar waterfowl by the prolific science writer who has provided so many outstanding science titles. (Nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 15, 2001
ISBN: 0-8234-1567-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2001
A knee-slapper for recent early-reader grads who like their metafiction on the droll side.
Two cutesy-poo picture-book characters seek (and find) a way to toughen up their images.
Chafing at the roles forced on them in previous bestsellers with titles like Tiger and Bear Are Cute and Tiger and Bear Are Wholesome, Knuckle Tiggerelli and Potty Polarberg seek help to escape their upcoming outing, Tiger and Bear Go to Happy World. Appeals to their author (who turns out to be not the TV celebrity named on their title pages, but a ghost writer named Gregory) and illustrator get only hostile responses. Knuckle and Potty (respectively, small pink and green outline figures with oversized eyes and lashes) arm themselves with erasers and mount a direct assault on Happy World’s trees and flowers. Alas, these turn out to be less defenseless than their sappy smiles imply. Proimos cranks up the general air of chaos by mixing narrative text with loosely drawn framed and unframed cartoon scenes and trots in other stars of page and screen. Such lights as Winkie the Pug and the rhyme-spouting Chicken in the Beret lend aid and advice.
A knee-slapper for recent early-reader grads who like their metafiction on the droll side. (Graphic fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: May 22, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9155-7
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
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