Wryly magical.
An equine retelling of a classic fairy tale, with many, many twists.
Snow Pony is a stunning mare with a snow-white coat and a black, braided mane (hair braiding is one of her specialties—those are some clever hooves). She loves to put on shows with her favorite friend, Charmaine (a medium-tan gal with long black hair, also perfect for braiding). Children come for miles around to see the shows. Queenie, a dappled mare, is jealous of all the attention lavished on Snow Pony. She decides to trick her, leaving a trail of (nonpoisonous) apples leading out the gate, into the dark, scary forest. Snow Pony eats the apples and finds herself lost. But then she comes across a stable with seven tiny stalls. Interestingly, the story here takes a “Goldilocks” turn: Seven shaggy miniature ponies return to find someone has nibbled their hay, eaten 77 sugar cubes, and is asleep in their stall. The ponies introduce themselves (adults will get a chuckle out of the bespectacled tax-attorney pony). Snow Pony joins them for a while but misses Charmaine. They figure out a way back to the farm, and mean ol’ Queenie gets her comeuppance (a large glue bottle is a shocking clue until a page turn reveals the true ending). Sima’s ornate text-box frames and bountiful sparkles that follow Snow Pony add to the fairy-tale mystique.
Wryly magical. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6268-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Energetic and encouraging.
Gordon, a teen artist and activist who in 2020 went viral for his painting of then–Vice President–elect Kamala Harris, draws from his own experiences for this story of a child who uses art to express himself.
Tyler’s words always get “STUCK.” “Long words. Short words. Silly words. All words.” In his head, Tyler can speak “loudly” and “proudly,” tell knock-knock jokes, and “even reveal the real reason why that chicken crossed the road.” Yet in reality, “his tongue [gets] tied, and his words just [won’t] come out right,” a predicament vividly expressed via tangled scrawls and a spread depicting Tyler with a long, loop-laced tongue. Still, Tyler won’t give up. His mother encourages him, and together they paint and practice saying “short words, long words, silly words” to describe their work. But at school, his stutter makes it hard for Tyler to find friends; kids stare and laugh when he stammers during show and tell. Again, his mother reassures him. Her ability to understand his paintings, even when they’re imperfect, gives Tyler an idea. At the next show and tell, Tyler proudly unveils his self-portrait…and his audience goes “WILD!” Rhythmic, rhyming, and repeated phrases give the text strong read-aloud appeal; Gordon’s animated, endearing cartoon illustrations readily convey Tyler’s apprehension, determination, and joy. An author’s note explains that Gordon was born deaf and acquired a stutter after undergoing surgery to improve his hearing. Tyler and his mom are Black; his classmates are diverse.
Energetic and encouraging. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2024
ISBN: 9780374389673
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
And the littlest ones will demand to know where the heck that rabbit went.
Klassen’s coy effort combines spare illustration, simple, repetitive text and a “payback’s a bear” plot.
A somber, sepia-toned bear longs for his missing hat and questions a series of forest animals about its whereabouts. While everyone denies seeing it, a rabbit (sporting, readers will note, a pointy red chapeau) protests a bit too indignantly. Ten pages on, as the bear describes his hat for a solicitous deer, realization hits: “I HAVE SEEN MY HAT.” The accompanying illustration shows the indignant bear suffused in the page’s angry red. There’s the subsequent dash and confrontation, followed by bear in hat and rabbit—well, nowhere to be seen. Klassen’s ink-and-digital creatures, similarly almond-eyed and mouth-less, appear stiff and minimalist against creamy white space. Foliage is suggested with a few ink strokes (though it’s quite bashed-up after rabbit goes missing). The text type, New Century Schoolbook, intentionally evokes the visually comfy, eminently readable design of 1960s children’s primers. Font colors correlate with the animals’ dialogue as well as the illustrations’ muted color palette, and the four-sentence denials (first rabbit’s, then bear’s) structurally echo each other. Indubitably hip, this will find plenty of admirers. Others might react to a certain moral vapidity.
And the littlest ones will demand to know where the heck that rabbit went. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5598-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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