Surreal illustrations add disturbing and enjoyable vigor to this adaptation of “I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly.” The shy fellow is listening to a string duet when, much to the consternation of the cellist, he swallows the cello—“perhaps he’ll bellow.” This strange gentleman, now shaped like the cello he has swallowed, follows up with the harp from an Irish dance troupe, the saxophone from a jazz band, a cowboy’s fiddle, a marching band’s cymbal, the flute from a revolutionary war piper, and a birthday party’s kazoo. With each addition to his strange meal, the shy fellow becomes more and more strangely shaped. At last he swallows the bell off a passing cat’s collar—one snack too many!—and the resulting explosion returns the instruments to the musicians in a delightfully vibrant musical blast. The dynamic line of the illustrations, full of swoops and squiggles, provides excellent accompaniment to this silly reworking of a familiar rhyme. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 2004
ISBN: 1-59078-043-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2004
Not for beginners, but older children may use this as a springboard for their own shape hunts.
Howells give familiar shapes both personalities and back stories in her authorial debut.
Everyone at Shapeston Elementary is excited about the auditions for the upcoming play, especially the shapes. They’ve had lots of practice playing roles and doing jobs already. Each of the six—Triangle, Square, Circle, Rectangle, Rhombus (aka “Diamond to her friends”), and Oval—gets his or her own double-page spread to serve as an introduction, cleverly pointing out to kids the many places they can find shapes in the everyday world. “Maybe you saw [Triangle] strutting her stuff on that sailboat in the bay.” “[Diamond] dazzles in patterns—check out your uncle’s argyle socks.” The right-hand pages of these intros present montages that show many of them in action: Circle as clock face, Rectangle as tablet screen, etc. Some of the real-world applications are clearer than others (the frosted green Diamond-shaped shortbread feels entirely arbitrary, for instance), and for Square’s help with math, children may need the picture to make the connection. In the end, everyone gets a part, and the shapes play integral roles in the scenery. Howells’ digital artwork is bright and colorful and clearly shows the many places shapes can be found. However, her text is far too long for any audience that is just learning about shapes, and the play is a rather weak device.
Not for beginners, but older children may use this as a springboard for their own shape hunts. (Math picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-55453-743-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
No skating on thin ice here—it’s a winner.
A girl in a hood glides into a new version of an old story.
Little Red (refreshingly, a winsome child of color) is one dazzling ice skater. Trouble is, her skates are so shabby and tight they might soon keep her from her weekly visits to Grandma’s. Then a pairs competition is announced, with new skates as the prize. New problem: everyone else seems to be partnered up already—Hansel with Gretel, the Dish with the Spoon, for example—or is unsuitable. Red dashes to Grandma’s for ideas. However, the Big Bad Wolf frightens her, and she skates away with lightning speed, nearly taking a nasty spill. Not to worry: Wolf rescues Red, compliments her prowess, and points out his own worn-out skates. Can you guess who’ll be Red’s partner? The day of the event, Wolf terrifies all the other competitors, but he’s redeemed when Red declares they’re a pair. Their spins and twirls leave everyone else in the, er, dust, and Mother Goose is on hand to award them their brand-new skates. Readers up on popular fairy tales and nursery rhymes will savor and chuckle at the sly visual and textual allusions to a host of well-known characters from these familiar childhood tales. The author also humorously works (and twerks) well-known phrases from these stories and rhymes into her text. The colorful retro illustrations are aptly cartoonlike, portraying characters, Red in particular, with large innocent eyes, befitting make-believe, updated protagonists.
No skating on thin ice here—it’s a winner. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37006-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015
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