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GRACIE GRAVES AND THE KIDS FROM ROOM 402

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

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TOUGH BORIS

In Brown's swashbuckling watercolors, Boris is tough indeed — hirsute, craggy, grim — but then, "All pirates are tough." As Fox's text succinctly points out, he's also "massive," "scruffy," "greedy," and "fearless," all qualities demonstrated in the illustrations as he seizes a violin from one of his crew, threatens the whole ugly lot after it's been purloined (readers will know that the stowaway boy, who earlier watched while the pirates buried their treasure, is the real culprit). The "scary" pirates catch the boy but soften when they hear him play; and when Boris's parrot dies, the boy helps him put it in the violin case for burial at sea and Boris cries and cries — "All pirates cry." These pirates also let the boy keep the violin when they row him home. Kids are sure to enjoy puzzling out the real story from the pictures, to which, in the end, the text's childlike stereotyping makes an amusing contrast. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 1994

ISBN: 0-15-289612-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1994

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IT HAPPENED ON SWEET STREET

A rollicking tale of rivalry.

Sweet Street had just one baker, Monsieur Oliphant, until two new confectionists move in, bringing a sugar rush of competition and customers.

First comes “Cookie Concocter par excellence” Mademoiselle Fee and then a pie maker, who opens “the divine Patisserie Clotilde!” With each new arrival to Sweet Street, rivalries mount and lines of hungry treat lovers lengthen. Children will delight in thinking about an abundance of gingerbread cookies, teetering, towering cakes, and blackbird pies. Wonderfully eccentric line-and-watercolor illustrations (with whites and marbled pastels like frosting) appeal too. Fine linework lends specificity to an off-kilter world in which buildings tilt at wacky angles and odd-looking (exclusively pale) people walk about, their pantaloons, ruffles, long torsos, and twiglike arms, legs, and fingers distinguishing them as wonderfully idiosyncratic. Rotund Monsieur Oliphant’s periwinkle complexion, flapping ears, and elongated nose make him look remarkably like an elephant while the women confectionists appear clownlike, with exaggerated lips, extravagantly lashed eyes, and voluminous clothes. French idioms surface intermittently, adding a certain je ne sais quoi. Embedded rhymes contribute to a bouncing, playful narrative too: “He layered them and cherried them and married people on them.” Tension builds as the cul de sac grows more congested with sweet-makers, competition, frustration, and customers. When the inevitable, fantastically messy food fight occurs, an observant child finds a sweet solution amid the delicious detritus.

A rollicking tale of rivalry. (Picture book. 4-8 )

Pub Date: July 7, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-101-91885-2

Page Count: 44

Publisher: Tundra Books

Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020

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