Plan a fruit-buying scavenger hunt after reading this one—even picky eaters are sure to be tempted.
Sayre follows up her salute to vegetables (Rah, Rah, Radishes!, 2011) with this rousing chant in favor of fruit.
“Rah, rah, raspberries! / Go, go, grapes! / Savor the flavors. / Find fruity shapes!” With these staccato rhythms and cheerleading words, Sayre sets the stage for one long chant that will have kids clamoring for a fruit snack. Going well beyond (but including) the standard apple, orange, banana, grapes and berries, she entices readers with such exotics as tamarillo, kiwano, guava, rambutan, currant, durian and the wonderfully named dragon fruit. In piles, baskets and boxes brimming with fruit, Sayre shows off the colors and textures, yet she does not shy away from depicting even those specimens that are not completely perfect. Several fruits are cut to show off their insides, such as the seeds of the kiwi and pomegranate and the intriguing cross sections of a lychee and mangosteen (readers may find themselves wondering which parts of these are edible). Taken primarily at farmer’s markets, mom-and-pop stores and fruit stands and often including hand-lettered signs proclaiming their farm of origin, her photographs send a subtle message to support local farmers and businesses. “Shapes. Textures. Colors. Smells. Fruit is art you can eat!” she marvels in an afterword. Ah, would that readers could pluck Sayre’s art right off the page and savor its juiciness.
Plan a fruit-buying scavenger hunt after reading this one—even picky eaters are sure to be tempted. (Nonfiction picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: May 22, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-3390-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
Let these crayons go back into their box.
The Crayons return to celebrate Easter.
Six crayons (Red, Orange, Yellow, Esteban, who is green and wears a yellow cape, White, and Blue) each take a shape and scribble designs on it. Purple, perplexed and almost angry, keeps asking why no one is creating an egg, but the six friends have a great idea. They take the circle decorated with red shapes, the square adorned with orange squiggles “the color of the sun,” the triangle with yellow designs, also “the color of the sun” (a bit repetitious), a rectangle with green wavy lines, a white star, about which Purple remarks: “DID you even color it?” and a rhombus covered with blue markings and slap the shapes onto a big, light-brown egg. Then the conversation turns to hiding the large object in plain sight. The joke doesn’t really work, the shapes are not clear enough for a concept book, and though colors are delineated, it’s not a very original color book. There’s a bit of clever repartee. When Purple observe that Esteban’s green rectangle isn’t an egg, Esteban responds, “No, but MY GOSH LOOK how magnificent it is!” Still, that won’t save this lackluster book, which barely scratches the surface of Easter, whether secular or religious. The multimedia illustrations, done in the same style as the other series entries, are always fun, but perhaps it’s time to retire these anthropomorphic coloring implements. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Let these crayons go back into their box. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-62105-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Formulaic fare that will nevertheless charm devoted followers.
A few familiar friends explore gratitude.
Daywalt’s crayons have observed many holidays, from Christmas to Earth Day. On Thanksgiving, these anthropomorphic school supplies wax (pun intended) poetic about their favorite things to draw. “Blue is thankful for blueberries.” (The accompanying illustration depicts the stubby crayon leaping into a pile of the fruit.) Black, on a page topped by dark scribbles, “is thankful for night skies.” In an aside, Black adds, “Big, beautiful night skies I get to color in all by myself!” (Blue is perfectly fine with this.) Pink pipes up with “Three glorious words. Amazon. River. Dolphins”—which may spur readers to research these creatures. The tale turns a bit meta, too. Teal is thankful for family—both Blue and Green. Red, surrounded by hearts, is thankful for Neon Green Highlighter, who was accidentally dropped into the crayon box—a “dreamboat” for sure. Recognizable jokes from previous works make appearances; these callbacks will delight staunch fans, though others will find them tiring. Standard cheer and platitudes abound; the crayons are ultimately most grateful for each other.
Formulaic fare that will nevertheless charm devoted followers. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780593690574
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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