An evocative—albeit restrained—odyssey into the imagination.
A boy journeys to a mysterious land when his drawings blast off the page in this wordless, haunting picture book.
Doodles of rockets in flight adorn the room’s walls. A small, pale-skinned, towheaded child (identified as a boy by the book title and flap copy) works on the latest sketch. This rocket, however, flies off the page as he watches it disappear into the night. The boy draws a car and a ramp. Soon, he’s in pursuit, voyaging to a land where giraffes, elephants, and lions roam. A new friend comes in the form of a dark-haired, pale-skinned girl, who helps the little explorer find the wayward rocket. Lehrer moves the tale at a muted pace, with a faintly disjointed sense of momentum. The boy and girl ride on elephants and sit among the animals as he draws a picture of her. This adventure ends too soon. Rocket strapped to the car, the boy departs into the sky, returning to the room (and to the page) where it all began. Back in his bed, the boy wakes up. Was it all a dream? The author’s gorgeous graphite illustrations emphasize and enhance the tale’s otherworldly undercurrent, but it’s mostly anchored by a quiet curiosity embodied in the boy. Still, some readers may want more, and they may take a cue from the final image, of the boy drawing the girl from memory, to make it for themselves.
An evocative—albeit restrained—odyssey into the imagination. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-56792-587-6
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Godine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.
The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.
Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0935-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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