A vibrant dance tale for young readers who enjoy diaper humor.
This debut picture book offers an amusing gross-out story in the same vein as Justine Avery’s Everybody Poops! (2019).
Authier’s rhyming couplets describe seven babies who show off their moves when their diapers are full. A blue-eyed, White infant wiggles in a crawl position on the opening spread. “Funky arms, funky feet” describe a slightly older baby with peachy skin; brown, curly hair; and a disco shirt. A young, brown-skinned, brown-haired ballerina uses a dance technique to avoid any leaking. A blond, pigtailed White child in boots and a Western vest with a sheriff star performs a line dance. Next, a brown-skinned, curly-haired baby tackles aerobics, pushing to build up a sweat, and a pale infant with straight, black hair and brown eyes engages in ballroom dancing, with the narrator warning: “Better wipe before it drips.” In the final spread, a very clean, redheaded White baby displays a naked bottom for the “No Pants Dance” to close out the music. The spare text is full of nose-curling descriptions that lap readers who love the gross and stinky will beg to hear again. Independent readers may stumble over a few challenging words (swagger, routine), but the rhymes and illustrations provide context. Wetterich’s diverse cartoon babies all feature wavy lines to represent the smell coming from their diapers (except the cleaned-up, final child). Each dancer is well costumed and reflects the verse, with most of the babies seeming to revel in their stinkiness.
A vibrant dance tale for young readers who enjoy diaper humor.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-578-76391-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Ava Jack Avenue
Review Posted Online: Aug. 8, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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