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KENYA KENYA

Name: KENYA KENYA
Author: Brigitte Benchimol

From the Jadyn and the Magic Bubble series

by Brigitte Benchimol & developed by FamCom ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 26, 2012

Well-intentioned and delivered with enthusiasm, if not quite up to professional standards in writing or design.

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A message-driven trip to the African savanna, informative but marred by both literary and technical issues.

Published in a print edition in 2011 but offered here with different (uncredited) illustrations, the tale features a purple-skinned lad who is transported to Kenya by magic bubbles. There, he receives a fact-filled lecture from a friendly four-legged tour guide introducing herself as “Gigi, the reticulated giraffe.” After efforts to get closer to the animals he encounters lead to misadventures (“I almost lost my blue butt on that rhino’s loooong sharpened horn”), Jadyn also learns the value of respect and hands-off observation. Along with a menagerie of easily recognizable African animals floating over grassy backgrounds, the cartoon illustrations feature such touch-activated effects as kaleidoscopic spinners, falling stars and black-and-white areas that can be colored with digital crayons. Movements seldom look natural, however, and page-turn swipes are often slow or unresponsive. Also, along with the odd malapropism (“I ran, followed by Gigi’s frightened eyes”; “Smoke was shooting from her nostrils”) and an excessive! use! of exclamation marks!!!! the narrative confusingly ends with “To be continued…” on an otherwise blank screen, even though the episode could stand alone.

Well-intentioned and delivered with enthusiasm, if not quite up to professional standards in writing or design. (iPad storybook app. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 26, 2012

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: FamCom

Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012

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HENRY AND MUDGE AND THE STARRY NIGHT

From the Henry and Mudge series

by Cynthia Rylant & illustrated by Sucie Stevenson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1998

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Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-689-81175-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
A BOOK OF LOVES
by Cynthia Rylant ; illustrated by Cynthia Rylant

- BOOK REVIEW
HORNBEAM BY AND LARGE
by Cynthia Rylant ; illustrated by Arthur Howard

- BOOK REVIEW
HORNBEAM GETS IT DONE
by Cynthia Rylant ; illustrated by Arthur Howard

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BIG CHICKENS

by Leslie Helakoski & illustrated by Henry Cole ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2006

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With wordplay reminiscent of Margie Palatini at her best, Helakoski takes four timorous chickens into, then out of, the literal and figurative woods. Fleeing the henhouse after catching sight of a wolf, the pusillanimous pullets come to a deep ditch: “ ‘What if we can’t jump that far?’ ‘What if we fall in the ditch?’ ‘What if we get sucked into the mud?’ The chickens tutted, putted, and flutted. They butted into themselves and each other, until one by one . . . ” they do fall in. But then they pick themselves up and struggle out. Ensuing encounters with cows and a lake furnish similar responses and outcomes; ultimately they tumble into the wolf’s very cave, where they “picked, pecked, and pocked. They ruffled, puffled, and shuffled. They shrieked, squeaked, and freaked, until . . . ” their nemesis scampers away in panic. Fluttering about in pop-eyed terror, the portly, partly clothed hens make comical figures in Cole’s sunny cartoons (as does the flummoxed wolf)—but the genuine triumph in their final strut—“ ‘I am a big, brave chicken,’ said one chicken. ‘Ohh . . . ’ said the others. ‘Me too.’ ‘Me three.’ ‘Me four’ ”—brings this tribute to chicken power to a rousing close. (Picture book. 6-8)