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
`` `Who'll offer me a ride?/Who'll carry me far and wide?' '' A lad sets out, hoping for a lift, but after misadventures with a giant trout, a gull, and other creatures, decides that his own two feet are best. Selznick (The Robot King, 1995, etc.) sets this hand-lettered, previously unpublished verse from the late poet above brightly lit, gently rolling pastures, through which move human figures drawn with antique clothing and slightly outsize heads Ö la Richard Egielski. Illustrated front matter interprets the poem as a fairly sunny take on an older child's displacement with the arrival of a baby. It's appropriate, then, that in the end the boy returns home for a final, affectionate ``lift'' from his father. A pleasant journey, with repetitive, not singsong, narration. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 11, 1997
ISBN: 0-06-027108-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An uninspiring version of the famous ballet is decorated, not illustrated, with undue attention on borders, designs, and patterns, painted in attenuated variants of candy colors, and characters and action in the background. Freeman proceeds as if readers are as familiar with the story as he is, stating that Clara and her brother, Fritz, watch ``in awe and amazement as the guests arrived.'' Nothing awesome appears in the text or in the pictures; that page portrays two silly-looking guests in disastrous parodies of party attire, along with a child who turns out to be Clara (almost out of the frame) and Fritz nowhere to be found; ribbons and confetti fill all of the small scene's space, yet fail to depict anything extraordinary. The events of the narrative are not well-portrayed; instead, one small action is usually the focus and the rest of the page is filled with ornamentation. The book tells the story adequately for those on the way to the ballet, but the charm of Isles's work for A Proper Tea (1989) is lost on this one. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: July 1, 1997
ISBN: 1-85793-545-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Pavilion/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1997
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