Wooldridge's first book is stunning. Wicked Jack loves being mean, luring people into his clutches with phony kindness. One day he is accidently nice to St. Peter and is given three of the ``sorriest'' wishes St. Peter has ever granted: that the first person to sit in his rocking chair sticks to it, that the first person to grab his sledgehammer sticks to it, and that the first one to pass a firebush gets drawn into the prickles. When the Devil's sons come calling, Jack does such a job on them and their father that when he dies, the Devil turns him away: ``You go start yourself a hell of your own!'' Wooldridge narrates this story in the voice of a toothless storyteller, cramming it with unrefined but sculpted expressions, and colloquialisms that border on wisecracks. She supplements the harmonious architecture of the plot with an equally exciting rhythm. Snap, crackle, popit's just about flawless, with a careful source note in the back. Hillenbrand's hilarious illustrations are graphite caricatureswhose dry sarcasm is comparable, say, to Georg Grosz'sentertainingly colored and softened with oils and oil pastels. His style is ideal for depicting tiny, expressive actionsJack flicking a match or picking dirt from under his fingernails. Everything in these pictures belongs to the sphere of high comedy, and readers will hoot. (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1995
ISBN: 0-8234-1101-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A Cinderella parody features the off-the-wall, whang-dang Texas hyperbole of Ketteman (The Year of No More Corn, 1993, etc.) and the insouciance of Warhola, who proves himself only too capable of creating a fairy godcow; that she's so appealingly whimsical makes it easy to accept the classic tale's inversions. The protagonist is Bubba, appropriately downtrodden and overworked by his wicked stepdaddy and loathsome brothers Dwayne and Milton, who spend their days bossing him around. The other half of the happy couple is Miz Lurleen, who owns ``the biggest spread west of the Brazos.'' She craves male companionship to help her work the place, ``and it wouldn't hurt if he was cute as a cow's ear, either.'' There are no surprises in this version except in the hilarious way the premise plays itself out and in Warhola's delightful visual surprises. When Lurleen tracks the bootless Bubba down, ``Dwayne and Milton and their wicked daddy threw chicken fits.'' Bubba and babe, hair as big as a Texas sun, ride off to a life of happy ranching, and readers will be proud to have been along for the courtship. (Picture book/folklore. 6-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-590-25506-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A disappointing exploration of career options from an entertainer who should know better. Maybe it has something to do with the decision to take the "Weird" out of his authorial name, but musical satirist Yankovic doesn't deliver the kind of precise zaniness adults of a certain generation will expect. Little Billy may be small in stature, but he doesn't limit his thinking when it comes to what he'll be when he grows up. As soon as Mrs. Krupp gives him the floor at show-and-tell, he grabs it and doesn't let go, reeling out a dizzying series of potential careers. Beginning with 12 rhyming couplets on what kind of a chef he might be, he follows up with snail trainer, machinist, giraffe milker, artist and on and on. At its best, the verse approaches Seussian: "maybe I'll be the lathe operator / Who makes the hydraulic torque wrench calibrator / Which fine-tunes the wrench that's specifically made / To retighten the nuts in the lateral blade." But the pacing never allows readers to stop and chuckle at the foolishness, and it doesn't leave enough room for Hargis' light, humorous cartoons to expand and ramp up the goof factor. In children's books, as in satire, less is more—here's hoping Weird Al's next effort is both tighter and funnier. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-192691-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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