Another heady foray into math’s conceptual reaches, with zero chance of failing to entertain.
A counting book cleverly designed to raise awareness about nothing.
“Zero is a big nothing,” Goldstone rightly writes, “but it’s also a big deal.” Younger audiences will definitely get a sense of what he means from this effervescent animal count, which begins with “I see one wallaby…” and goes on from “Two tuna splish / and splash / and splosh…” to “Twelve turtles / wallow in mud”—each verse ending with a refrain that is some variant on “and zero zebras.” Zero zebras are indeed what viewers will find in the cheery illustrations, too, as Chung employs bright colors and precisely drawn geometric shapes in neat but lively compositions that feature arrays of (other) creatures, inconspicuously placed numerals, and, for sharper eyes to spot, glimpses of the odd foxtail, beach ball, or other visual reference to scenes just past. Then, after closing with a veritable litany (“When the stars come out tonight, / zero zebras do, too. / Along with zero pandas / eating zero bamboo”), the author eases in the mind-blowing notion that zero isn’t really a number at all but more of an idea, not unlike a different but adjacent concept: infinity. For an author who has already introduced picture-book readers to probability, pattern recognition, and estimation theory, it hardly seems a stretch. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Another heady foray into math’s conceptual reaches, with zero chance of failing to entertain. (Math picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-74224-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Appealing for entertainers and those who would rather just listen.
What is the point of reading a book aloud?
Greenfield and Lowery’s latest work of metafiction—after I Don’t Want To Read This Book (2021) and This Book Is Not a Present (2022)—features an agitated unseen narrator objecting to the idea of reading a book aloud: “It’s dopey words like aloud that make me want to remain asilent.” The rambling and occasionally digressive complaint provides an excellent canvas for Lowery’s energetic, hand-drawn typography and whimsical, charmingly silly drawings. Nearly every word is in capitals and gets its own color, size, or blocky 3-D rendering, resulting in a set of stage directions for a reader’s voice, graphically indicating pacing and emphasis. The detours from the cranky harangue are amusing. The narrator literally addresses “the elephant in the room”—“Hello, Elephant!”—and a few pages later focuses on the possibility that a word like aplomb could show up. The elephant offers a helpful definition of aplomb with, well, aplomb. Concerns about the pitfalls of performance are at the heart of this monologue. At one point the narrator’s worries (“I mean, what if I lose my place?...What am I supposed to do then? START OVER?”) are itemized on the verso and repeated on the recto. The audience will possibly find this hilarious. The sly paradox, of course, is that the reading aloud of this metatextual discourse contradicts the narrator’s avowed aversion to doing so and does it with panache. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Appealing for entertainers and those who would rather just listen. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780593616581
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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