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GIZMO

Name: GIZMO
Author: Barry Varela
ISBN: 978-1-59643-115-7

by Barry Varela & illustrated by Ed Briant ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2007

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Engineering becomes art in this sprightly tale of a huge but useless machine saved from the wrecking ball. Written in rhymed free verse, the tale opens with Professor Ludwig von Glink waking one morning with an idea for a perpetual-motion device. He’s wrong—but so entrancing is his mechanical gizmo that he decides “to work up some specs / and see if I can make this / mingle-mangle of intricate / jury-rigged gimcrackery / yet more complex.” Cheered on by his wife (dressed, as he is, in a lab coat) and five children, the Professor proceeds to wreath the entire house in gears and rods, pulleys, slides and pinwheels. Then a hard-nosed Building Inspector shows up. Using quick strokes of pen and brush, Briant creates buoyant, increasingly crowded cartoon scenes featuring a magnificent construct that almost conceals the house around and through which it snakes—and which is saved by the last minute appeal of the City Contemporary Art Museum’s strong-minded Director. Like another recent iteration of the theme, Dayle Ann Dodds’s Henry’s Amazing Machine (2004), illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker, the unusual language adds great read-aloud potential. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: May 1, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-59643-115-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2007

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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THE KING OF IRELAND'S SON

by Brendan Behan & illustrated by P.J. Lynch ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1997

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A story from Brendan Behan's IslandAn Irish Sketchbook (1962), turned into a lavishly illustrated picture book. The king of Ireland sends his three sons—Art, Neart, and Ceart—to find the source of heavenly music. Art descends into a cave, where he meets various strange old men, a helpful talking horse, and a not overly-bright giant. The style is that of an Irish storyteller relating the tale to an audience, with long, rushed sentences and keen exaggerations, e.g., in the listing of Art's many meals. The pictures are an odd mix: The fantasy elements (the old men, the giant) as well as the landscapes and backgrounds are buoyant and delightful, but a bad fit for the ordinary mortals, done in a somewhat jarring realistic style. Still, the phrasing and rhythms of the text make it ideal for reading aloud so listeners can hear its exuberant lilt. (Picture book/folklore. 6-8)

Pub Date: March 1, 1997

ISBN: 0-531-09549-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Orchard

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1997

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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GUS AND GRANDPA

by Claudia Mills & illustrated by Catherine Stock ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 19, 1997

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The relationship between seven-year-old Gus and his buddy, Grandpa, is at the core of the first of a proposed series of easy readers from Mills (Losers, Inc., p. 144, etc.). Each of three short episodes about ordinary events stands alone, but they are neatly tied together at the end. ``The Great Dog Trainer'' is a mildly humorous tale of Gus's short-lived fantasy to turn his dog, Skipper, into a circus act. In ``The Lost Car,'' Grandpa and Gus go shopping and emerge to find the car ``missing''—they've forgotten where they parked. The gifts they exchange in ``The Birthday Party'' come with winks that only they understand. One-syllable words and short sentences mark this out for the genre and the genial watercolor illustrations are a welcome break from the cartoon drawings usually associated with the formula. The characters interact with real warmth, but they are bland, lacking the personality of most of Mills's characters, and without any of the sparkle of Henry and Mudge. (Fiction. 6-8)