A book with an expected ending—a tooth falls out—that unintentionally reaffirms the value of pure conformity. Olivia repeatedly claims to have lost a tooth to gain entrance to the exclusive Lost Tooth Club all her friends have been allowed to join. Efforts to dupe the members include blackening her loose tooth with a marker, covering it with black licorice and trying to pass off a white pebble as a missing tooth, all in the name of belonging. The insistent club members, bordering on mean-spirited, catch her; when Olivia stumbles over her tooth after declaring that she is going to start a “loose tooth” club, the tooth flies out and she is welcomed into the clubhouse. The first tooth incident is funny, but the humor wears thin. Still, Johnson excels at animal expressions, as in her boisterous dream sequence depicting a gap-toothed menagerie, presided over by a moon with a missing tooth; Olivia’s flyaway red hair forms a centerpiece to most of the soft-toned pastel compositions. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 24, 1998
ISBN: 1-883672-55-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tricycle
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1998
In his third beginning reader about Otto the robot, Milgrim (See Otto, 2002, etc.) introduces another new friend for Otto, a little mouse named Pip. The simple plot involves a large balloon that Otto kindly shares with Pip after the mouse has a rather funny pointing attack. (Pip seems to be in that I-point-and-I-want-it phase common with one-year-olds.) The big purple balloon is large enough to carry Pip up and away over the clouds, until Pip runs into Zee the bee. (“Oops, there goes Pip.”) Otto flies a plane up to rescue Pip (“Hurry, Otto, Hurry”), but they crash (and splash) in front of some hippos with another big balloon, and the story ends as it begins, with a droll “See Pip point.” Milgrim again succeeds in the difficult challenge of creating a real, funny story with just a few simple words. His illustrations utilize lots of motion and basic geometric shapes with heavy black outlines, all against pastel backgrounds with text set in an extra-large typeface. Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be welcome additions to the limited selection of funny stories for children just beginning to read. (Easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-85116-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
Floyd and Denise update “The Tortoise and the Hare” for primary readers, captioning each soft-focus, semi-rural scene with a short, simple sentence or two. Rabbit proposes running to school, while his friend Turtle takes the bus: no contest at first, as the bus makes stop after deliberate stop, but because Rabbit pauses at a pushcart for a snack, a fresh-looking Turtle greets his panting, disheveled friend on the school steps. There is no explicit moral, but children will get the point—and go on to enjoy Margery Cuyler’s longer and wilder Road Signs: A Harey Race with a Tortoise (p. 957). (Easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-202679-7
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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