More a Mustache Toddler now but still getting into hairy situations, Baby Billy's still good fun.
Has Mustache Baby met a buddy...or a rival?
Baby Billy was born with a mustache that’s usually a good-guy mustache but on occasion curls up into a bad-guy mustache. When readers last saw him, he'd met bearded Baby Javier. Billy decides to show Javier how he's the “sharpest shooter in the west” (shooting hoops) and can "work on the railroad all the livelong day" (lay toy train tracks). But Javier knows a thing or two, like how to "wrassle a bear" (a teddy) and catch fish with his bare hands (goldfish crackers). Baby Billy won't be bested, so he challenges Javier to a duel. Javier beats him at magic, math, art...and even in the final showdown (a tricycle race). This, of course, prompts the return of the bad-guy mustache. When Javier produces a bad-guy beard, a wrestling match ensues—and ends in timeout. Billy wanted Javier as a sidekick, but he became a bitter rival; can Baby Billy figure out how to salvage the situation? Heos and Ang's sequel to Mustache Baby (2013) is more arch cuteness. A couple highfalutin references (Dali vs. Van Gogh in the art contest) and big words ("competitiveness") may miss the target audience, but kids will see themselves and their less-successful play dates in Billy and Javier's first meeting. Ang’s cinematic cartoon illustrations are again a joy.
More a Mustache Toddler now but still getting into hairy situations, Baby Billy's still good fun. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-36375-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.
A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.
Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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