A work of unbridled joy sweetly rendered with a lot of heart.
A collection of 22 poems for kids, accompanied by homespun illustrations.
From the first poem “Invasion,” an ode to dust bunnies, Combs makes it refreshingly clear that rhythm and language trump solemn moralizing in this children’s book. This is a lesson in itself since Combs’ playfulness as a poet makes the English language fun rather than something for children to fear. Every poem, from “The Barnyard Ballet,” in which “Pigs wore pink tutus / And cows donned blue gowns, / Leaping from barns, / Pirouetting though towns,” to “A Rare Pair” (“There was an umbrella / Who was an odd fella; / It just didn’t work like the rest”) have an easy cadence and engaging musicality accessible to readers both young and old. The simple graphite and pen-and-colored-pencil pictures present a whimsical context for the delightful words. In fact, if there’s one thing the book needs, it’s more illustrations. “Peter The Eater,” about a boy who ate “Crunchy red ants, / mud cakes and flies, / His mother’s house plants / and bumblebee pies,” is a standout, but with five pages of words followed by only one drawing of Peter, it feels a bit sparse. (But that’s a minor quibble in the face of the multitude of illustrations accompanying “Bonaparte Gulls / and Sandwich Terns, / Boat-tailed Grackles / and Fiddle-head Ferns” in “Real Silly Names.”) Indeed, the Dr. Seuss-like wonder and enchantment that shines throughout makes the reader only want more of this author’s original vision. In this sense, the collection feels like a sketch for a more substantive work. For example, at a mere seven pages “My Closet Monster,” about a bogeyman “With bumpy skin, / the color of grapes” cries out to be expanded into a fully developed short story. There’s even “The Queen of Dirt” Emma McBean, who lives in squalor until one day she and her stench mysteriously disappear. The tale behind this character would seem nearly novelistic, conjuring up images just begging to be born on the page.
A work of unbridled joy sweetly rendered with a lot of heart.Pub Date: March 4, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-935631-00-2
Page Count: 126
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lovely encouragement to young writers to persist.
This follow-up to How To Read a Story (2005) shows a child going through the steps of creating a story, from choosing an idea through sharing with friends.
A young black child lies in a grassy field writing in a journal, working on “Step 1 / Search for an Idea— / a shiny one.” During a walk to the library, various ideas float in colorful thought bubbles, with exclamation points: “playing soccer! / dogs!” Inside the library, less-distinct ideas, expressed as shapes and pictures, with question marks, float about as the writer collects ideas to choose from. The young writer must then choose a setting, a main character, and a problem for that protagonist. Plotting, writing with detail, and revising are described in child-friendly terms and shown visually, in the form of lists and notes on faux pieces of paper. Finally, the writer sits in the same field, in a new season, sharing the story with friends. The illustrations feature the child’s writing and drawing as well as images of imagined events from the book in progress bursting off the page. The child’s main character is an adventurous mermaid who looks just like the child, complete with afro-puff pigtails, representing an affirming message about writing oneself into the world. The child’s family, depicted as black, moves in the background of the setting, which is also populated by a multiracial cast.
A lovely encouragement to young writers to persist. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5666-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit.
The bubble-helmeted feline explains what rockets do and the role they have played in sending people (and animals) into space.
Addressing a somewhat younger audience than in previous outings (Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space, 2013, etc.), Astro Cat dispenses with all but a light shower of “factoroids” to describe how rockets work. A highly selective “History of Space Travel” follows—beginning with a crew of fruit flies sent aloft in 1947, later the dog Laika (her dismal fate left unmentioned), and the human Yuri Gagarin. Then it’s on to Apollo 11 in 1969; the space shuttles Discovery, Columbia, and Challenger (the fates of the latter two likewise elided); the promise of NASA’s next-gen Orion and the Space Launch System; and finally vague closing references to other rockets in the works for local tourism and, eventually, interstellar travel. In the illustrations the spacesuited professor, joined by a mouse and cat in similar dress, do little except float in space and point at things. Still, the art has a stylish retro look, and portraits of Sally Ride and Guion Bluford diversify an otherwise all-white, all-male astronaut corps posing heroically or riding blocky, geometric spacecraft across starry reaches.
Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911171-55-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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