Timeless of premise but not exactly fresh and, at best, inept of execution.
Justification, or maybe just deserts, for prehistoric or modern young contradictosauruses.
In essence a retread of Stegothesaurus (2018) with an altered setup and a woefully muddled ending, this prehistoric episode pits beleaguered parents against a stubbornly contrary offspring. Since he always says and does the opposite of what Mommy and Daddy Triceratops—identified, in McBeth’s simple cartoon illustrations, respectively by eyelashes and pearls and a necktie—he’s earned the titular moniker. When urged to eat, say, Triceratopposite spits out his dinner leaves; at the hot springs after refusing to get in, he recklessly splashes and dives off rocks until he’s forcibly marched home. That night, as his exhausted parents sleep, he wanders outside and meets a toothy, exaggeratedly humongous T. rex child. A monosyllabic exchange ensues: “Big!” “Little!” “Mean!” “Nice!” “Leave?” “Stay!” “Play?” “Fight!” Out rush the triceraparents, just in time to be horrified by the sight of their offspring engaged in a bit of playful roughhousing. Their shouted “Enemy!” gets the predictable rejoinder “Friend!” and a cozy closing predator-prey hug. “Maybe, in this case, the opposite was better after all.” But a different message is conveyed by the following and final line, in which a hopeful “The Beginning” is crossed out and replaced by an ominous “The End.” If this is an attempt at Jon Klassen–style ambiguity, the illustrator misses it, and readers will too. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 83% of actual size.)
Timeless of premise but not exactly fresh and, at best, inept of execution. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-13489-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.
With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?
Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7033-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Laugh-out-loud fun for all.
Hilarious complications ensue when Nanette’s mom gives her the responsibility of buying the family baguette.
She sets out on her errand and encounters lots of distractions along the way as she meets and greets Georgette, Suzette, Bret with his clarinet, Mr. Barnett and his pet, Antoinette. But she remembers her mission and buys the baguette from Juliette the baker. And oh, it is a wonderful large, warm, aromatic hunk of bread, so Nanette takes a taste and another and more—until there is nothing left. Maybe she needs to take a jet to Tibet. But she faces her mother and finds understanding, tenderness, and a surprise twist. Willems is at his outlandish best with line after line of “ettes” and their absurd rhymes, all the while demonstrating a deep knowledge of children’s thought processes. Nanette and the entire cast of characters are bright green frogs with very large round eyes, heavily outlined in black and clad in eccentric clothing and hats. A highly detailed village constructed of cardboard forms the background for Nanette’s adventures. Her every emotion explodes all over the pages in wildly expressive, colorful vignettes and an eye-popping use of emphatic display type. The endpapers follow the fate of the baguette from fresh and whole to chewed and gone. Demands for encores will surely follow.
Laugh-out-loud fun for all. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-2286-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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