Perhaps not the best, but better than many grammar books—definitely one to check out.
Cleary and Gable, those relatively cool cats, continue their Words are CATegorical series with this entry about comparatives and superlatives.
Taking comparatives and superlatives in turn, Cleary walks readers through the basic rule of adding -er/-est, then branches out to state that sometimes “more” or “most” is added at the front instead, and there are some words that have no set rules (good, bad, far). “Try taking a / describing word, / like bright. / Now add e-r. / You’ve made it a comparative / to name the brighter star.” Gable’s illustrations are the true stars here, his feline characters brimming with personality. The “brighter” spread features a sunglasses-clad, red-carpet star preening for a camera. The facing page shows the spotlights and cameras trained on a flashier diva, the original looking on in consternation. Bright backgrounds provide contrast for the cats’ hues, while the comparatives and superlatives are printed in color, contrasting with the black text. While Cleary nails his rhythms and rhymes for the most part, the sheer implausibility and craziness of some of his choices (the “longest curl” on a cat?) may give readers pause and interrupt the flow. Too, readers will want to savor the zaniness introduced by Gable’s pictures: “quietest” and “queasiest” sit side by side on a ride, the one a mime with a finger to his lips, the other a shocking shade of green.
Perhaps not the best, but better than many grammar books—definitely one to check out. (grammar rules) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7613-5362-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Illustrated with a Honduran painter’s ornately detailed, Maya-inflected figures, this bilingual telling of a tale passed down by the illustrator’s grandmother also presents an authentically Central American blend of folk mythology and social commentary. When humans that have been created severally from fragile clay, combustible wood and cold, silent gold prove unsatisfactory to the gods, the Good-Hearted God "did what only gods can do": cuts off his fingers, which grow into such lively and elusive people that the gods can’t catch them to put them through various tests. (The text is careful to add that the fingers grow back, "like lizards' tails.") The weary gods take a siesta, and when they awake to discover that the warm-hearted humans have brought the golden model to life, they decree that the finger people will evermore be forced to work for the model’s rich descendants—but the rich will never enter heaven unless both come together. Not a traditional tale, but it's told in an animated way and is strongly evocative of its root culture. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58980-889-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
“Do fairies exist? The answer is a definite, energetic, resounding and unquestionable Yes.” Suggesting that anyone who has ever felt inexplicably grumpy, happy, scatterbrained, loving or giggly has been influenced by a particular kind of fairy, Carretero proceeds to catalog fairy types, habitats (country fairies have “hot pollen for breakfast” and do “complicated yoga exercises”) and yearly celebrations. An album at the end provides six pages of fairy types (kissy-kissy, bubbly, brainy—in glasses, natch—etc.), and the book concludes with a few fairy activities. Showing a fondness for bright flowers and checkerboard patterns, she illustrates the tour with luminous watercolor scenes featuring gatherings of wide-eyed winged girls (all fairies being “half girl and half insect”) with extra-long pipestem limbs flitting gracefully about a range of urban and rural settings. Next to Sally Gardner’s more clever and comprehensive Fairy Catalogue (2001) this comes off as sweet fare, but thin—and the single-page multicultural fairy gallery includes some stereotyping, with a German fairy identified by the sausage at the end of her wand and an omnibus “Oriental” fairy next to others from specific countries. Like its diminutive subjects, easy to miss. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-84-937814-9-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
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