Not exactly dreamy.
Jacob the Sandman befriends the Night Monster when he goes to gather dream sand.
Drescher’s text, translated from German, is heavy on exposition as it tells readers about an evening when the elfin Sandman, Jacob, oversleeps and neglects his duty to sprinkle dream sand over the homes of sleeping children in order to give them good dreams. When he and his helper, Milo the mouse (just a head shorter than Jacob), belatedly arrive at the hilltop to gather the sand, they find the massive, reptilian Night Monster and are afraid until they realize that he’s a misunderstood, kindhearted soul. He says he’s afraid of the dark, and he goes into children’s bedrooms to seek a cozy place for himself, and he never means to scare anyone. Jacob and Milo then welcome the monster to accompany them on their dream-sand–sprinkling mission in their hot air balloon, and after that they welcome him back to Jacob’s cozy home and rename him Albie. The story is every bit as haphazard and meandering as this summary makes it seem, and redundant art does little to elevate it, though the full-bleed, double-page–spread watercolors are better-executed and more appealing than the writing is.
Not exactly dreamy. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-78250-525-9
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Floris
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Out in time for the chilliest season, this offers a solution to winter blues while adding to the growing list of yeti...
When the winter gets rough, what is a yeti to do?
Readers follow a nameless yeti accompanied by a stuffed toy yeti in a simple narrative. Yetis love several things about winter: waking up to quiet, snowy mornings, drinking hot chocolate, sliding down hills, building snow castles, frolicking in the snow and pretending to be Godzilla, ice-skating “Yeti style” (belly down). Nevertheless, it isn’t entirely grand for yetis in the winter, for they, too, experience winter blues, when hot-chocolate supplies have been depleted and their cold, wet fur won’t dry. And so they miss the warm summer: playing outdoors for long hours, looking for sea creatures, producing sea-monster beauty contests, building sand castles, and zipping down splashy slides, also yeti-style. They miss the summer nights and listening to the sound of crickets, wishing on shooting stars, and gazing at the hundreds of fireflies. Vogel, in his debut as both author and illustrator, contrasts the white, gray, barren winter spreads with lively green backyards, sunny beach days, and blue summer nights. The yeti’s expressions merit great attention, as do the nod to a yeti-fied version of a Sendak classic and such important scene-setting details as the radiators found in cold-weather homes.
Out in time for the chilliest season, this offers a solution to winter blues while adding to the growing list of yeti protagonists. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4170-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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