Screamingly fun.
Can a book about napping be a lively story? Why, yes. Meet Annalise.
Middle-grade novelist Grabenstein, perhaps best known for the Mr. Lemoncello’s Library series, turns to picture books in this story of a spunky toddler who prefers shrieking to napping. Her weary father pushes her through town in a stroller, hoping it will lull her to sleep. The two discover that the townspeople, one by one, are more than happy to “take” Annalise’s nap in her stead. Everyone stops in their tracks to get some shut-eye while Annalise is “the only one in the whole wide sleepy world who would not fall asleep.” When she’s finally ready to, she can’t; “all the naps had already been taken!” Cue more shouting: “I WANT TO TAKE A NAP!” Grabenstein writes chummily, often directly addressing readers (“Do you know anyone like that?”). The book’s display type plays with font size and color to accentuate Annalise’s wails, and Espinosa fills the retro illustrations, reminiscent of mid-20th-century classics, with funny details, including snoozing pigeons, fish, and ducks. Preschoolers will find the defiant protagonist’s protests a little bit thrilling and 100% funny. Delightfully, the front endpapers feature a large, red “WAAAAAH!”; the closing ones, a small, blue “Shhhh” after the girl has finally, mercifully closed her eyes. Annalise and her family have pale skin; Espinosa depicts a diverse group of townspeople who will gladly take her naps for her.
Screamingly fun. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5247-7128-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Raise your hats, everyone; raise them high!
In her debut picture book, adult novelist Straub offers a tip of the hat…to hats.
This captivating charmer isn’t about hats’ utilitarian functions—that is, the why, when, or how they’re worn. Nor will readers learn the latest scoop in millinery fashion trends. The author instead muses on…well, hats—mostly how and what they can be made from. And does she have ideas! Among many items, hats can be fashioned from pajama pants, towels, bathtime bubbles (temporarily), books, bowls, and—get this—even cats! Speaking of creativity, who says hats only go on heads? Hats fit on fingers, too: Have you ever tried adorning fingertips with raspberries, tortellini, chewed gum, and doll shoes? And—wait for it—where is it written that only people wear hats? Can’t houses, pots, turtles, woodland animals, and stuffed bears wear chapeaux, too? There are many more charming examples in this wonderfully clever title, and children will want to return to it again and again. Adults sharing this adorable winner should be prepared to use it to stimulate creative discussions, drawing, and/or craft-making activities. Children will have a ball donning their thinking caps and coming up with original ideas for devising all sorts of hats and various creatures and objects to wear them—including themselves. The digital illustrations incorporate paper collage and are as colorful, lively, and inventive as the text. Characters are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Raise your hats, everyone; raise them high! (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-52943-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Rocky Pond Books/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Fun enough once through, but not much more.
A pint-sized sleuth tracks a purple underground monster.
When Mom scrapes the family's uneaten spaghetti into the sink, young Sammy Sanders hears strange slurping sounds. He becomes "77 percent convinced" that a spaghetti-slurping serpent lives in his sewer, and can't get to sleep. The next morning, Sammy and his little sister Sally investigate. There are meatballs and strands of limp spaghetti around the manhole cover! Sammy, whose round glasses make the whites of his eyes look as enormous as an owl's, can barely contain his excitement. After he removes the cover, Sally slips on some sauce and lands in the sewer, becoming a smelly sludgy mess. Sammy's left to investigate alone and comes up with a brilliant idea. Late that night, he sneaks out of the house with a salty snack for himself and a bowl of spaghetti for the serpent. But he falls asleep, and the huge serpent slithers up to the scrumptious spaghetti. Slurping sounds startle Sammy awake; he's face-to-face with the monster. There's just one thing to do: Share! Sammy' salty snack earns him a friend for life. And that night, he sleeps soundly, 100% sure that there's a serpent in his sewer. Zenz's illustrations, in Prismacolor colored pencil, look generic, but Ripes' yarn has pace and phonetic crackle.
Fun enough once through, but not much more. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7614-6101-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
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