People in houses are upended, and cats and dogs tumble down Willobee Street when Ma Brindle gets out her ``extra-large utensils,'' scratches up some dough, and rolls out a crust for her famous Sweet Dream Pie. Every known candy is mixed into an enormous batter, sending a chocolate tornado through the otherwise average neighborhood. A pie the size of a wading pool comes out of the oven as a clan of rotund, pop-eyed folks bring their giant appetites to gobble down not just one piece, but seconds, thirds, and more, despite Ma Brindle's warning. Wood parodies the gluttony as people and pets become sleepy-eyed sacks of potatoes from overeating—slumping over fences, lolling over windowsills, passing out under bushes. Giant-sized, round-bellied monsters overrun the streets until a broom-wielding Ma Brindle takes charge, setting things right. Teague, who previously collaborated with Wood on The Flying Dragon Room (1996), bends the rules and the landscape by using a distorted, skewed perspective with houses a-tilt, lampposts leaning, and beveled panoramic street scenes, often seen from an aerial view. It accentuates the author's fondness for the preposterous, and follows the badly paced text to a deflated ending. After the tall-tale build-up to the pie's alleged effects, the monsters amount to little more than a burp of indigestion. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-590-96204-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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