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MOTHER OCEAN, FATHER SUN

Name: MOTHER OCEAN, FATHER SUN
Author: Anne Niles

by Anne Niles & illustrated by Tom Arenberg & developed by Fish-e-Tales ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 2011

An unvarnished, if (appropriately) atmospheric introduction to the water cycle.

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A raindrop takes a circular journey from forest to ocean to cloud and back in an app that still needs major work.

Dubbed “Ayashi” (Chippewa for “Little One”), the drop falls from a leaf tip into a stream that flows down through a city and into a bay. She is then drawn up into the sky by Father Sun, joins other droplets in a cloud, falls in night rain and again wakes on a leaf. The illustrations, all of which pointlessly have lines and shadows running down their centers to simulate the gutter of a book, resemble photographs that have been processed to look like out-of-focus or pixilated paintings of land- and seascapes. Many screens are still images, even (as in scenes of an ocean reef and of billowing clouds) when there are references to movements in the accompanying narrative, and several of the rare touch-activated animations—a water drop that plunges like a lead weight into a stream, shooting stars that appear with a tap but only in portions of a night sky—aren’t quite right. Sound effects are bright and distinct, but they frequently continue even after one or more new pages have been swiped into view, and selecting the audio narration option at the beginning activates an autoplay with no “pause” button.

An unvarnished, if (appropriately) atmospheric introduction to the water cycle. (iPad storybook app. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2011

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Fish-e-Tales

Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011

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TINY LITTLE ROCKET

by Richard Collingridge ; illustrated by Richard Collingridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 31, 2018

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off.

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This rocket hopes to take its readers on a birthday blast—but there may or may not be enough fuel.

Once a year, a one-seat rocket shoots out from Earth. Why? To reveal a special congratulatory banner for a once-a-year event. The second-person narration puts readers in the pilot’s seat and, through a (mostly) ballad-stanza rhyme scheme (abcb), sends them on a journey toward the sun, past meteors, and into the Kuiper belt. The final pages include additional information on how birthdays are measured against the Earth’s rotations around the sun. Collingridge aims for the stars with this title, and he mostly succeeds. The rhyme scheme flows smoothly, which will make listeners happy, but the illustrations (possibly a combination of paint with digital enhancements) may leave the viewers feeling a little cold. The pilot is seen only with a 1960s-style fishbowl helmet that completely obscures the face, gender, and race by reflecting the interior of the rocket ship. This may allow readers/listeners to picture themselves in the role, but it also may divest them of any emotional connection to the story. The last pages—the backside of a triple-gatefold spread—label the planets and include Pluto. While Pluto is correctly labeled as a dwarf planet, it’s an unusual choice to include it but not the other dwarfs: Ceres, Eris, etc. The illustration also neglects to include the asteroid belt or any of the solar system’s moons.

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 31, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-338-18949-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: David Fickling/Phoenix/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LIONHEART
by Richard Collingridge ; illustrated by Richard Collingridge

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WAITING IS NOT EASY!

From the Elephant & Piggie series

by Mo Willems ; illustrated by Mo Willems ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 4, 2014

A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends

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Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”

When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.

A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)