Children may enjoy the silliness and rollicking rhythms despite a few flaws.
This second volume of rhyming verse for children offers humorous takes on various situations.
In this sequel, Fleishman (Twist and Shout!, 2017, etc.) again provides simple-to-understand comic verse for young readers. Don’t be put off by the book’s title; the 20 poems collected here don’t focus on gross-out humor. Many are pieces that depend on Harston’s (Twist and Shout!, 2017, etc.) bright, cartoonlike illustrations, which show diverse characters, for necessary context. For example, the first verse, “Neighbor,” is merely two lines long: “I just met my neighbor. He’s a very friendly guy. / He has 20 ovens. Gee, how strange. I wonder why?” Speculation is put to rest on the facing page, which shows a chef holding a tray of freshly baked muffins. Similarly, the four-line “Ice Skating” advises readers to “never skate the inner part,” which makes sense only with the image, depicting a shark’s fin emerging in a hole near center ice. Sometimes, though, the author and illustrator miss a beat; a crocodile who gets a birthday gift of Crocs is funny, but the picture reveals only the wrapped present, not the juxtaposition of croc/Crocs. Fleishman at times adds a lesson to his verse, but not always successfully. “Butterfly Catchers,” for example, anthropomorphizes the insects, teaching incorrect biology and making young entomologists feel guilty for the wrong reasons. (Some of the creatures are endangered, but there are no mother and baby butterflies whose hearts can be broken.)
Children may enjoy the silliness and rollicking rhythms despite a few flaws.Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-73247-703-2
Page Count: 56
Publisher: FBT Poetry, LLC
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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