by Beck Stanton & Matt Stanton ; illustrated by Beck Stanton & Matt Stanton ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 2018
A rollicking read for children and adults alike. (Picture book. 4-8)
“This book is RED,” says the cover of the picture book, except the word “RED” happens to be the color violet.
The Australian import follows a pattern familiar to readers of other books in the Books That Drive Kids Crazy! series. The narrator begins by trying to convince young readers that the different colors in the book—as represented by the green frog, the black-and-white penguin, and the red rose, among others—are all red. The blurb on the back cover goes so far as to enlist the help of adults to “convince the nearest kid that everything in this book is actually red. And we mean everything,” which makes the book a fun endeavor for adult and child alike. The design, too, is much like the other books in the series: most versos consist of a solid color that makes up the background, overlaid with bold text, and there’s a white page opposite them. Each white page has an object or two on it, which the narrator invariably insists is red. The Stantons’ narrative is witty, silly, and interactive. The circuitous logic adds to the hilarity of the situation. For instance, the page with the penguin holding a rose reads “Roses are red. So Rose the penguin is red. Are you calling me a liar?” The book finally ends with a play on the words “red” and “read,” if only to prove that the narrator was right all along.
A rollicking read for children and adults alike. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-43449-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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by Beck Stanton & Matt Stanton ; illustrated by Beck Stanton & Matt Stanton
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by Michelle Worthington ; illustrated by Joseph Cowman ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2015
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way.
A young boy sees things a little differently than others.
Noah can see patterns in the dust when it sparkles in the sunlight. And if he puts his nose to the ground, he can smell the “green tang of the ants in the grass.” His most favorite thing of all, however, is to read. Noah has endless curiosity about how and why things work. Books open the door to those answers. But there is one question the books do not explain. When the wind comes whistling by, where does it go? Noah decides to find out. In a chase that has a slight element of danger—wind, after all, is unpredictable—Noah runs down streets, across bridges, near a highway, until the wind lifts him off his feet. Cowman’s gusty wisps show each stream of air turning a different jewel tone, swirling all around. The ribbons gently bring Noah home, setting him down under the same thinking tree where he began. Did it really happen? Worthington’s sensitive exploration leaves readers with their own set of questions and perhaps gratitude for all types of perspective. An author’s note mentions children on the autism spectrum but widens to include all who feel a little different.
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60554-356-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Redleaf Lane
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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by Megan McDonald & illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2012
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the...
An all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades.
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the streets in the time-honored stiff-armed, stiff-legged fashion. McDonald signals her intent on page one: “Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie’s eye fell off and rolled across the floor.” The farce is as broad as the Atlantic, with enough spookiness just below the surface to provide the all-important shivers. Accompanied by Reynolds’ drawings—dozens of scene-setting gems with good, creepy living dead—McDonald shapes chapters around zombie motifs: making zombie costumes, eating zombie fare at school, reading zombie books each other to reach the one-million-minutes-of-reading challenge. When the zombie walk happens, it delivers solid zombie awfulness. McDonald’s feel-good tone is deeply encouraging for readers to get up and do this for themselves because it looks like so much darned fun, while the sub-message—that reading grows “strong hearts and minds,” as well as teeth and bones—is enough of a vital interest to the story line to be taken at face value.Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5692-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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by Megan McDonald ; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
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