IF I WAS A BANANA

Name: IF I WAS A BANANA
Author: Alexandra Tylee
ISBN: 978-1-776570-33-1

by Alexandra Tylee ; illustrated by Kieran Rynhart ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2016

While some young listeners might prefer more action, those who share the unnamed narrator’s quirky viewpoint will be pleased...

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A child imagines life as any of a variety of animals, natural phenomena, or inanimate objects.

A New Zealand import, this low-key, whimsical exploration of imagination repays repeat readings. As the first-person narration begins, an adult and child stand in front of a store window full of bananas. In subsequent pictures the brown-haired, white child appears alone. Sometimes the child is shown indoors, poring over a picture of a mountain, clicking off a bedside lamp, looking at the bottle of milk on the breakfast table. Other times the child appears outdoors, watching a storm, holding a ladybug, or approaching a majestic old tree. Everything the child sees sparks a possibility: what it would be like to be a spoon (“I think I might quite like it”) or a fish in a fish bowl (decidedly less appealing). Drawn in a mostly realistic style with occasional touches of anthropomorphic exaggeration, the illustrations appear to have been created in pencil and oil pastel. Multiple sizes, from vignettes to double-page spreads, and unusual perspectives provide interest and rhythm. Rich textures and muted colors add to the dreamy quality of the text, which has a thoughtful, reflective tone throughout.

While some young listeners might prefer more action, those who share the unnamed narrator’s quirky viewpoint will be pleased to discover that they aren’t the only ones who wonder. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-776570-33-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Gecko Press

Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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WHERE ARE YOUR SHOES, MR. BROWN?

by Justin Rhodes ; illustrated by Heather Dickinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2023

Pedestrian.

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Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.

Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 14, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals

Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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THE GINGERBREAD MAN LOOSE IN THE SCHOOL

by Laura Murray & illustrated by Mike Lowery ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2011

Teachers looking for a new way to start off the school year will eat this one up.

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In Murray’s children’s debut, when a gingerbread man made by schoolchildren gets left behind at recess, he decides he has to find his class: “I’ll run and I’ll run, / As fast as I can. / I can catch them! I’m their / Gingerbread Man!”

And so begins his rollicking rhyming adventure as he runs, limps, slides and skips his way through the school, guided on his way by the friendly teachers he meets. Flattened by a volleyball near the gym, he gets his broken toe fixed by the kindly nurse and then slides down the railing into the art teacher’s lunch. Then it’s off to the principal’s office, where he takes a spin in her chair before she arrives. “The children you mentioned just left you to cool. / They’re hanging these posters of you through the school.” The principal takes him back to the classroom, where the children all welcome him back. The book’s comic-book layout suits the elementary-school tour that this is, while Lowery’s cartoon artwork fits the folktale theme. Created with pencil, screen printing and digital color, the simple illustrations give preschoolers a taste of what school will be like. While the Gingerbread Man is wonderfully expressive, though, the rather cookie-cutter teachers could use a little more life.

Teachers looking for a new way to start off the school year will eat this one up. (Picture book. 4-7)