While most children will be able to relate to the raw frustration that Kaplan so effectively captures, it will take...
Henry and Eve, the constant complainers from Monsters Eat Whiny Children (2010), are going through a “new, terrible phase.”
The fight is on from the first page, and when the children simultaneously attempt to grab a favored action figure, the defeated one slings the titular moniker at her brother. Kaplan’s subsequent aside asserts the philosophy underpinning his plot: “There’s nothing sillier than fighting about what belongs to whom, but no kids and even fewer adults know that.” It’s an extensive rampage. The diminutive ink-and-watercolor caricatures contrast with sterile, white expanses interrupted by a decapitated doll here, a flattened Grand Canyon there, until all that remains is darkness. The pair’s eyes are unnervingly vacant; emotional intensity is achieved through dramatic mouth or brow lines and rage-purple cheeks. Despite an escalating vengeance that leads to nihilism, actions are contained within black frames. A temporary truce allows time for a snack. The penultimate scene shows two arms reaching for each other—a Michelangelo moment that mirrors the opening toy disaster but has a gentler outcome. (The endpapers, however, hint that the siblings have not completely reformed.)
While most children will be able to relate to the raw frustration that Kaplan so effectively captures, it will take sophisticated readers who are familiar with dark humor to enjoy this over-the-top fable about the consequences of unfettered will. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8542-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
Children expecting a new sibling might take some wisdom here, but it may find its most natural audience in new parents, who...
The trope that imagines a baby as an exotic creature—or perhaps even an alien—is taken to full and nearly irresistible flower in this picture book for those expecting new babies.
Menino is Portuguese for “little boy” but stands in for “new baby” of any gender. His arrival is greeted with astonishment as he completely disrupts the ordered lives of his parents, in the most adorable way. Drawings rendered with pen, ink, and Photoshop look as though they might have been dashed off on kraft paper but are of marvelous sophistication and stupendously squiggly line; they guide readers through the deadpan text. The body and activities of the Menino are described as if entirely new to the observers: his eyes are “two little windows”; “the Poop Fairy Godmother…helps him to empty himself.” Though he speaks his own language, eventually he begins to give it up and pragmatically learns what is “spoken at his house.” The author marvels at how this creature reminds others of the child inside themselves. She illustrates that by sketching small blue figures inside of the adults who interact with him. The processes of elimination, regurgitation, nourishment, and other perfectly normal activities are illustrated clearly (and with humor).
Children expecting a new sibling might take some wisdom here, but it may find its most natural audience in new parents, who can use it as both a primer and a comfort object. (Picture book. 5-8, adult)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-55498-778-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In the end, though, a pretty naked appeal to sentiment more than a story.
Mr. and Mrs. Cripps are old and mean and do not want the dog a friend gave them for Christmas.
They wash the dog and feed him, but they never give him a name. They yell when the dog does normal puppy things like digging in the garden and yapping happily. Then one day the Cripps take all their things and move away, leaving the dog, who has named himself “Sad.” The dog is only alone overnight, however, because the next morning a new family moves in, and a boy named Jack does all the right things: careful approach, fresh water, doggie biscuits, soft bed. The dog gets a better name (Lucky), and much joy ensues. The watercolor pictures are done in soft colors and whimsical line. Sad is a black-and-white bull terrier–ish dog, and the human figures have oversized heads and skinny, rubbery bodies; birds, flowers, and autumn leaves make the landscape. The story neatly skirts the issue of animal abandonment and abuse (while Sad is abandoned, it is only for a day, and the Cripps do care for him, in their fashion). Younger children may also relate to Sad the dog’s being yelled at for activities that are perfectly natural to him.
In the end, though, a pretty naked appeal to sentiment more than a story. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7826-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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