Desperation confused for hysterics.
Harris’ latest makes an urgent plea for somber reflection.
“Stop! Stop!! Stop!!!” Right from the get-go, readers are presented with three rules for reading this book (“Don’t look at this book!” “Do look at your listener!” “Get your listener to look at you!”). But the true lesson is in the title itself: If anyone listening to this book laughs, you have to start it all over. Challenge accepted? Good. Sheer frenetic energy propels what passes for a narrative as the book uses every trick up its sleeve to give kids the giggles. Silly names, ridiculous premises, and kooky art combine, all attempting some level of hilarity. Bloch’s art provides a visual cacophony of collaged elements, all jostling for the audience’s attention. Heavily influenced by similar fourth wall–busting titles like The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (1992) by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith, and the more contemporary The Book With No Pictures (2014) by B.J. Novak, these attempts to win over readers and make them laugh will result in less giggles than one might imagine. In the end, the ultimate success of this book may rest less on the art or text and more on the strength of the reader’s presentation. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Desperation confused for hysterics. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-42488-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Mixed-race children certainly deserve mirror books, but they also deserve excellent text and illustrations. This one misses...
This tan-skinned, freckle-faced narrator extols her own virtues while describing the challenges of being of mixed race.
Protagonist Lilly appears on the cover, and her voluminous curly, twirly hair fills the image. Throughout the rhyming narrative, accompanied by cartoonish digital illustrations, Lilly brags on her dark skin (that isn’t very), “frizzy, wild” hair, eyebrows, intellect, and more. Her five friends present black, Asian, white (one blonde, one redheaded), and brown (this last uses a wheelchair). This array smacks of tokenism, since the protagonist focuses only on self-promotion, leaving no room for the friends’ character development. Lilly describes how hurtful racial microaggressions can be by recalling questions others ask her like “What are you?” She remains resilient and says that even though her skin and hair make her different, “the way that I look / Is not all I’m about.” But she spends so much time talking about her appearance that this may be hard for readers to believe. The rhyming verse that conveys her self-celebration is often clumsy and forced, resulting in a poorly written, plotless story for which the internal illustrations fall far short of the quality of the cover image.
Mixed-race children certainly deserve mirror books, but they also deserve excellent text and illustrations. This one misses the mark on both counts. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63233-170-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Eifrig
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
With the right kid in the right mindset, this escape into ludicrous answers may yield some very real explorations.
Musician, singer/songwriter, and multimedia artist Fite takes a headlong dive into the world of the absurd.
After being introduced to a bucket that looks empty but is in fact “FULL of QUESTIONS,” readers are asked a number of them. “Why do seals clap?” “Why do kids lose their teeth?” “What are hot dogs (actually) made of?” Each question is accompanied by three or four potential answers of varying silliness (“Hot dogs are made of lost teeth”). Meanwhile, wild typography and design and supremely busy black-and-white images give the entire book an outsider artist vibe comfortable with its own finely controlled chaos. Kids who balk at the lack of colors may find that the sole two-page spread of vibrant hues and shades at the heart of the book more than makes up for the dearth elsewhere. While each answer is silly, the questions act as prompts that could, if shared with inquisitive youngsters eager for discussion, lead to larger conversations or fun writing projects. And aside from an out-of-place cutesy note to readers at the start (wherein the author describes himself as “100% pooky-pooky”), the title does a good job of respecting the intelligence and curiosity of its intended audience. Humans depicted are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
With the right kid in the right mindset, this escape into ludicrous answers may yield some very real explorations. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66591-831-2
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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