We all know them—on the plane, on the train, in the car seat, after nighty-night: big bad baby.
Little Sammy is positively cherubic—all pink and roly-poly with Kewpie-doll cowlick and goo-goo eyes—but given half a chance, he becomes Bad Baby. Applesauce too tart? Time to chase the cat with hair clippers. Nap delayed? Time to work some Jackson Pollack with the mustard squeeze bottle. But Bad Baby has his eyes on making a real statement. So he cobbles together a Monster Machine, and voilà—a really big and bad baby emerges. He plays with trucks as if they were Matchbox toys, uses a lamppost as a baton and unleashes a hurricane-force belch. Not to mention the tsunami of drool. Police, firefighters, even the librarian—all are helpless before this diapered behemoth. That is, until the clothes drier finishes with his security blanket. Hale gives Breen plenty of room, supplying a rhythmically funny text that offers up one funny situation after another. Even as a towering Babyzilla, the giant tot retains his look of wide-eyed innocence. Bad Baby conducts his mayhem with so winning a grin on his puss, he’s no threat—he’s an entertainer (as long as he stays in the picture book).
Don’t rest too easy. “I’ll be back!” intones our young Schwarzenegger. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 12, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8037-35859
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
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Oliver, of first-day-of-school alligator fame, is back, imagining adventures and still struggling to find balance between introversion and extroversion.
“When Oliver found his egg…” on the playground, mint-green backgrounds signifying Oliver’s flight into fancy slowly grow larger until they take up entire spreads; Oliver’s creature, white and dinosaurlike with orange polka dots, grows larger with them. Their adventures include sharing treats, sailing the seas and going into outer space. A classmate’s yell brings him back to reality, where readers see him sitting on top of a rock. Even considering Schmid’s scribbly style, readers can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he ponders the girl and whether or not to give up his solitary play. “But when Oliver found his rock… // Oliver imagined many adventures // with all his friends!” This last is on a double gatefold that opens to show the children enjoying the creature’s slippery curves. A final wordless spread depicts all the children sitting on rocks, expressions gleeful, wondering, waiting, hopeful. The illustrations, done in pastel pencil and digital color, again make masterful use of white space and page turns, although this tale is not nearly as funny or tongue-in-cheek as Oliver and His Alligator (2013), nor is its message as clear and immediately accessible to children.
Still, this young boy’s imagination is a powerful force for helping him deal with life, something that should be true for all children but sadly isn’t. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-7573-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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Dot, the smallest reindeer at the North Pole, is too little to fly with the reindeer team on Christmas Eve, but she helps Santa in a different, unexpected way.
Dot is distressed because she can’t jump and fly like the other, bigger reindeer. Her family members encourage her and help her practice her skills, and her mother tells her, “There’s always next year.” Dot’s elf friend, Oliver, encourages her and spends time playing with her, doing things that Dot can do well, such as building a snowman and chasing their friend Yeti (who looks like a fuzzy, white gumdrop). On Christmas Eve, Santa and the reindeer team take off with their overloaded sleigh. Only Dot notices one small present that’s fallen in the snow, and she successfully leaps into the departing sleigh with the gift. This climactic flying leap into the sleigh is not adequately illustrated, as Dot is shown just starting to leap and then already in the sleigh. A saccharine conclusion notes that being little can sometimes be great and that “having a friend by your side makes anything possible.” The story is pleasant but predictable, with an improbably easy solution to Dot’s problem. Illustrations in a muted palette are similarly pleasant but predictable, with a greeting-card flavor that lacks originality. The elf characters include boys, girls, and adults; all the elves and Santa and Mrs. Claus are white.
A forgettable tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-15738-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
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