This lighthearted story has a lot to offer as a discussion starter and read-aloud.
A comic tale about sharing and friendship.
In the sequel to The Monkey Goes Bananas (2014), Bloom (actually three authors in one: Carly Dempsey, Ed Bloom and illustrator Raymundo) and Raymundo offer another humorous tale with minimal text. Perhaps beginning where the last story left off, the monkey joyfully contemplates a banana on the copyright page, while an equally happy bee buzzes nearby. As the monkey is about to partake of said banana, the bee lands on it with a hopeful smile. Apparently unwilling to share, the monkey flicks the bee away, but the bee is not so easily dissuaded. What follows is a merry chase in which the monkey gets in serious trouble when a swat meant for the bee lands on a lion—but what’s this? It’s the bee to the rescue! In the end, the two new friends sleep off full stomachs. Using the same dark, heavy-lined style as in the first book, Raymundo places heavy emphasis on the characters by mostly isolating them against blue sky with just a little foliage for set dressing. Perspective, page turns and occasional graphic panels neatly convey the physical comedy.
This lighthearted story has a lot to offer as a discussion starter and read-aloud. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0886-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
Silly reads for new readers to dig into.
A turnip-loving duck and its friends defend their garden.
Alas, the duck, sheep, dog, and donkey immediately discover the eponymous pest in the garden when it (a groundhog?) eats a row of beans. The duck is frantic that turnips are next, but instead the pest eats the sheep’s favorite crop: corn. Peas occupy the next row, and the pest gobbles them up, too. Instead of despairing, however, the donkey cries, “Yippee! He ate ALL THE PEAS!” and catching the others’ puzzled looks, continues, “I don’t like peas.” After this humorous twist, the only uneaten row is sown with turnips, and the duck leaps to devour them before the pest can do so. In a satisfying, funny conclusion, the duck beams when the dog, sheep, and donkey resolve to plant a new garden and protect it with a fence, only to find out that it will exclude not just the groundhog, but the duck, too. A companion release, What Is Chasing Duck?, has the same brand of humor and boldly outlined figures rendered in a bright palette, but its storyline doesn’t come together as well since it’s unclear why the duck is scared and why the squirrel that was chasing it doesn’t recognize the others when they turn and chase him at book’s end.
Silly reads for new readers to dig into. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-94165-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Pearson is a slug intimate, having previously charted the course of two Slugs in Love (illustrated by Kevin O'Malley, 2006), so who better to explain, exactly, the best way to teach a slug to read? It is really quite elementary, starting with opening the book (make sure it has slug characters), read it to the slug, point out repeating words, help sound them out, get a vocabulary list going, underline favorite words and, you bet, “[r]ead your slug’s favorite poems to him as many times as he wants. Read him other books too!” This slug’s favorite is Mother Slug’s book of poetry, with such old gems as “Mary had a little slug, / His skin was smooth as silk” and “Whatever can the matter be? / Sally Slug has climbed a tree” and “Sweet Sammy Slug / Slides through the town.” Slonim’s upbeat illustrations give readers a sense that they are there with the slugs, flipping the pages, while the interjections from the slugs—“Sl-uh-uh-g! Hey, I can read SLUG!”—convey, with a light hand, the joys of reading. And though it isn’t cricket to diminish a slug’s capabilities, readers can’t help but feel that if a slug is up to the task, well then, maybe someone else in the room is, too. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5805-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
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