A deeply entertaining book with a strong political message for young readers and their grown friends.
Perry (Composition/Rochester Inst. of Technology) hatches a debut children’s book about a gander who’s determined to distinguish himself on a journey of discovery.
Gargle, after having a bad day, decides to take point and lead his community’s migration south. This is a position of honor, and, after an energizing breakfast of hot dog buns and lightning bugs, he feels prepared to earn it despite his friends’ doubts. Gargle’s plans quickly go awry when he finds himself alone in uncharted territory eating trash. As he struggles to make it back to his family, he befriends a lonely, sarcastic donkey named Luckless. The unlikely pair continue Gargle’s journey until they meet a farmer who manages an illegal foie gras factory and a cunning fox. The fox is eager to make a nice supper of Gargle, but he and Luckless convince her otherwise by insisting that they can grant her access, through the farmer, to all the geese in the factory. Gargle once had a portly gander friend who escaped from a similar factory, but he didn’t believe his stories—until he sees the farmer force-feeding geese with a tube. A series of mishaps, both serious and silly, result from the three animals’ plans. What began as a story of Gargle’s quest to prove himself quickly becomes one about a struggle to survive by outsmarting both fox and farmer. Perry is a fearless writer, braiding the harsh realities of the agricultural world together with absurd plot twists and a seemingly Camelot-inspired ending. Despite these bold narrative moves, however, what will linger most is the wealth of goose- and bird-related puns that the author is able to work into both the dialogue and narration. Verstraete’s black-and-white illustrations appear at the beginning of each short chapter, though readers may desire more of them, to better demonstrate to children the comedic and harsh elements of this fictional world.
A deeply entertaining book with a strong political message for young readers and their grown friends.Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5195-0047-2
Page Count: 78
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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