by Alison Lester & illustrated by Alison Lester ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1996
A brilliantly conceived book about seven children, consisting entirely of variations on the same phrase: ``When Nicky was one she spilled spaghetti on her head. Frank bit the dog. Tessa took her first steps . . . And Rosie said `Horse.' '' A small scene of each event appears above the line of text. On the next page, accompanied by a full-page illustration, is a screwy sort of punchline, e.g., ``But Clive smashed the china at his Great Grandmother's birthday party.'' For each of the next six years, the same pattern is repeated, with a different character leading off, and a different one delivering the punchline. The captions are wonderfully turned miniatures, simultaneously simple and inventive. Most of the time the text and pictures are hilarious, and even when the text is not explicitly funny, the picture makes it so. Lester (Yikes!, 1995, etc.) provides her characteristic watercolors, depicting irresistibly independent children in ever-changing sequence; perhaps her books should never be fully absorbed in just one sitting. A counting/memory game closes the book; the entire venture is unique in design and executed to perfection. (Picture book. 2-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-395-74275-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1996
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by Alison Lester ; illustrated by Alison Lester
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by Alison Lester ; illustrated by Alison Lester
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by Alison Lester ; illustrated by Alison Lester
by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 27, 2013
A comical, fresh look at crayons and color
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Duncan wants to draw, but instead of crayons, he finds a stack of letters listing the crayons’ demands in this humorous tale.
Red is overworked, laboring even on holidays. Gray is exhausted from coloring expansive spaces (elephants, rhinos and whales). Black wants to be considered a color-in color, and Peach? He’s naked without his wrapper! This anthropomorphized lot amicably requests workplace changes in hand-lettered writing, explaining their work stoppage to a surprised Duncan. Some are tired, others underutilized, while a few want official titles. With a little creativity and a lot of color, Duncan saves the day. Jeffers delivers energetic and playful illustrations, done in pencil, paint and crayon. The drawings are loose and lively, and with few lines, he makes his characters effectively emote. Clever spreads, such as Duncan’s “white cat in the snow” perfectly capture the crayons’ conundrum, and photographic representations of both the letters and coloring pages offer another layer of texture, lending to the tale’s overall believability.
A comical, fresh look at crayons and color . (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-399-25537-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
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by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Alex Willmore
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by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
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by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
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by B.J. Novak ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 30, 2014
A riotously fresh take on breaking the fourth wall.
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This book may not have pictures, but it’s sure to inspire lots of conversations—and laughs.
Television writer, actor and comedian Novak delivers a rare find, indeed: a very good celebrity picture book. It doesn’t even seem fair to call it such, since it has nothing to do with his Emmy Award–winning writing for The Office or the fame his broader career has afforded him. The jacket flap even eschews a glossy photo, instead saying “B.J. has brown hair and blue eyes,” in order to keep with the book’s central conceit. What this book does have is text, and it’s presented through artful typography that visually conveys its changing tone to guide oral readings. Furthermore, the text implies (or rather, demands) a shared reading transaction, in which an adult is compelled to read the text aloud, no matter how “COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS” it is. Employing direct address, it pleads with the implied child listener to allow him or her to stop reading. Nonsense words, silly words to be sung and even a smattering of potty talk for good measure all coalesce in riotous read-aloud fare. Although the closing pages beg the implied child reader to “please please please please / please / choose a book with pictures” for subsequent reading, it’s likely that this request will be ignored.
A riotously fresh take on breaking the fourth wall. (. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4171-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
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