A tour of a typical classroom, person-by-person, told in rhyming verse. The lines rarely scan properly, but many of the character descriptions end with a punch that is either humorous, touching, or, in one case, just shy of offensive: ``When the prinicipal rose to addres the class,/Anna Shannon's bubble gum stuck to his . . . trousers.'' These collaborators include two plugs for their Monster Beach (1995) and four for Junior Kroll (1993). Gracie Graves's pupils are stereotypes: the quiet math whiz, the chubby girl victimized by bullies, the tomboy, the tattletale, etc. They are also throwbacks to another eradespite the gratuitous inclusion of a couple of minority studentsas are other aspects of the illustrations: Many of the girls wear Mary Janes, Gracie has a bottle of india ink on her desk (and four polished apples), a Southern boy wears a double-breasted suit. The wide-eyed jollity of the Paraskevas team compensates mightily, and what readers will take away from this visit to Room 402 is the impression of a classroom teeming with life. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-15-200321-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The can’t-miss subject of this Step into Reading series entry—a unicorn with a magic horn who also longs for wings—trumps its text, which is dry even by easy-reader standards. A boy unicorn, whose horn has healing powers, reveals his wish to a butterfly in a castle garden, a bluebird in the forest and a snowy white swan in a pond. Falling asleep at the edge of the sea, the unicorn is visited by a winged white mare. He heals her broken wing and she flies away. After sadly invoking his wish once more, he sees his reflection: “He had big white wings!” He flies off after the mare, because he “wanted to say, ‘Thank you.’ ” Perfectly suiting this confection, Silin-Palmer’s pictures teem with the mass market–fueled iconography of what little girls are (ostensibly) made of: rainbows, flowers, twinkly stars and, of course, manes down to there. (Easy reader. 4-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83117-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
Dooley (Everybody Bakes Bread, 1996, etc.) dishes up another premise for Carrie to eat her way around her multicultural neighborhood. Thornton again offers framed, lifeless illustrations that stick to a predictable text. Today is a snow day at school and Christmas approaches. Carrie is tapped out after buying gifts for everybody except Mom, who always wants “anything that comes from your heart.” She hopes to earn money by shoveling snow. But when she helps Tito shovel his walk and steps, he tells her the landlord won’t pay, although they can warm up with a bowl of his sister Fendra’s Puerto Rican pea soup. Carrie gets the recipe. John has a cold and can’t shovel, but his mom offers a cup of Greek lemon-chicken soup and the recipe. And so it goes—recipes pour in along with Mark’s mom’s corn chowder, Darlene’s grandaunt’s oxtail soup, and Wendy’s mom’s miso soup. Recipes, however, don’t buy gifts, and at the end of the day Carrie has earned only ten dollars from Dad. That and Mrs. Max’s idea are enough to buy Mom’s gift—a blank book in which Carrie can write her newfound recipes. Preparing for Hanukkah, Mrs. Max reminds Carrie that “good soup with a friend warms more than the body.” The recipes included give readers an opportunity to test that notion in a book more cookery than fiction, more work-a-day than holiday. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2000
ISBN: 1-57505-422-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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