FIERCE GREY MOUSE

Name: FIERCE GREY MOUSE
Author: Chantal Bourgonje

by Chantal Bourgonje & illustrated by Chantal Bourgonje & developed by Tizio BV ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2011

Dutch illustrator/writer Bourgonje makes her app debut with this charming tale. One ordinary day, a small grey mouse decides...

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Little Grey Mouse aims to become fierce in this winsome story about child’s play and make-believe.

Dutch illustrator/writer Bourgonje makes her app debut with this charming tale. One ordinary day, a small grey mouse decides he wants to be fierce. He imagines behaving like a wild animal. He does exercises to develop strong muscles and then puts them to use by practicing his pouncing skills. After combing his hair like a ruffian and eating a good breakfast, the ferocious wee rodent climbs a tree and waits for someone to pounce on. Along come his friends, and a day of jubilant play ensues. The app functions much like an animated storyboard; the backgrounds are lush watercolor-like stages that characters perform on. All text is comprised of what appears to be cutout magazine letters (a breath of fresh air in a medium largely dominated by standard typeface). And when tapped, the mouse and his “prey” all yield endearing sound effects. Navigation is a cinch. Interactive animation is abundant, but perhaps the app’s most striking asset is that it has a strong, well-written story, which is beautifully narrated in English, Dutch or Spanish.

Pub Date: May 16, 2011

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Tizio BV

Review Posted Online: June 3, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MUD MONSTER
by Chantal Bourgonje & illustrated by Chantal Bourgonje & developed by Tizio BV

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Awards & Accolades

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14

New York Times Bestseller

IndieBound Bestseller

DRAGONS LOVE TACOS

From the Dragons Love Tacos series

by Adam Rubin & illustrated by Daniel Salmieri ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2012

A wandering effort, happy but pointless.

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Awards & Accolades

Likes

14

New York Times Bestseller

IndieBound Bestseller

The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.

Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.

A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: June 14, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012

Categories:

CHILDREN'S DRAGONS & MYTHICAL CREATURES

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THE TRUTH ABOUT THE COUCH
by Adam Rubin ; illustrated by Liniers

- BOOK REVIEW
THE HUMAN KABOOM
by Adam Rubin

- BOOK REVIEW
THE ICE CREAM MACHINE
by Adam Rubin ; illustrated by Daniel Salmieri , Charles Santoso , Liniers , Emily Hughes , Nicole Miles & Seaerra Miller

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)