Will the Big Bad Wolf have his revenge on those three little pigs?
After the three little pigs captured the Big Bad Wolf in a pot of boiling water and sent him to Happily Never After Prison, the residents of Fairyland dubbed the little porkers THE THREE LITTLE SUPERPIGS (always referred to in all-caps). As the heroes fight crime all over Fairyland (and relish the attention from their fans), the Big Bad Wolf plots alone in his cell. Soon bricks begin vanishing from all over the realm, and the Wolf escapes from prison! All the denizens of Fairyland hide in their homes. Try as they might, the pigs can’t find the Wolf or the bricks…until he finds them and uses the bricks to capture the SUPERPIGS. Can they escape his trap—or is their bacon fried? Evans’ smart twist on the familiar tale will elicit giggles at its clever wordplay and fairy-tale cameos. The details in the (probably) digitally created, brightly colored illustrations will make repeated readings as much fun as the first—a police lineup of grandmas with an oh-so-obvious Wolf is particularly funny. All three pigs are male, and human residents of Fairyland all present white.
A starter fractured fairy tale for readers not yet ready for The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (. (Picture book. 2-7)Pub Date: July 31, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-24545-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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Abuela is coming to stay with Mia and her parents. But how will they communicate if Mia speaks little Spanish and Abuela, little English? Could it be that a parrot named Mango is the solution?
The measured, evocative text describes how Mia’s español is not good enough to tell Abuela the things a grandmother should know. And Abuela’s English is too poquito to tell Mia all the stories a granddaughter wants to hear. Mia sets out to teach her Abuela English. A red feather Abuela has brought with her to remind her of a wild parrot that roosted in her mango trees back home gives Mia an idea. She and her mother buy a parrot they name Mango. And as Abuela and Mia teach Mango, and each other, to speak both Spanish and English, their “mouths [fill] with things to say.” The accompanying illustrations are charmingly executed in ink, gouache, and marker, “with a sprinkling of digital magic.” They depict a cheery urban neighborhood and a comfortable, small apartment. Readers from multigenerational immigrant families will recognize the all-too-familiar language barrier. They will also cheer for the warm and loving relationship between Abuela and Mia, which is evident in both text and illustrations even as the characters struggle to understand each other. A Spanish-language edition, Mango, Abuela, y yo, gracefully translated by Teresa Mlawer, publishes simultaneously.
This warm family story is a splendid showcase for the combined talents of Medina, a Pura Belpré award winner, and Dominguez, an honoree. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6900-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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Hee haw.
43
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The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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