An epistolary picture book whimsically teaches geography, encouraging readers to follow the peregrinations of a life-sized wooden figure. When Tameka invites her Uncle Ray, a woodworker, to visit her in California, he responds that he can’t—but he will send a wooden doll he has fashioned in his stead. Oliver is duly propped up by the side of the road to hitch a ride (“California or bust,” reads his placard), a note in his backpack requesting that his conveyers send postcards back to his friend Ray. What follows is a genial romp that moves back and forth among Oliver, Ray, and Tameka, as Oliver makes his way across the country. The landscape orientation enhances sweeping full-bleed spreads; wordless double-paged openings feature Oliver against the changing American geography and alternate with postcards and letters written by his helpers to inform Ray of his progress. Cepeda’s (Why Heaven Is Far Away, 2002, etc.) cheerily energetic oils vary perspective and angle with abandon, giving the story a wonderful movement. Rendered over an acrylic underpainting; the bits of color that show through the oil coat also lend individual spreads terrific energy. The genius of the interaction between illustration and Pattison’s (The Wayfinder, not reviewed) deadpan postcard text is that the tension regarding Oliver—is he just a giant doll or is he “real”—is never really resolved. Pictured in Reno with a trio of gray-haired sisters from Kokomo, Oliver stands in the background by the craps table, holding up one wooden finger and looking on expressionlessly. The letter reads, “Mr. Oliver’s advice was very helpful. We won $5,000!” Who knows? Readers, like Tameka and those who encounter Oliver on his way, will be happy to choose to believe. Endpapers feature bright, complementary maps of the US: the front is empty, while the back is marked by dotted lines showing Oliver’s journey. All geography lessons should be this much fun. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-202329-1
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003
Though episodic rather than eventful, it’s sure to entertain young readers transitioning to chapter books
Griffin, Sheinmel, and Palacios introduce an earnest, quirky duo in a light series for transitioning readers.
Four short seasonal vignettes—“Spring: Surprise Party,” “Summer: Beach Day,” “Fall: New Sneakers,” and “Winter: Perfect Pizza”—illustrate a year’s time with best friends Agnes Pig and Clarabelle Chicken. The pair is unquestionably charming and unapologetically unconventional. For instance: both friends plan and organize Clarabelle's “surprise” birthday party; instead of shopping for new shoes, Agnes gives Clarabelle the pair she’s wearing, having grown out of them; Agnes’ idea of bad news is going to the beach; and a perfect pizza sports chestnut, popcorn, and white-chocolate-chip toppings. Interspersed through the stories are alternating moments when one is scared, reassuring, or understanding. Agnes squawks, clucks, and shakes her tail feathers with excitement; and to comfort her friend, she squeezes Clarabelle’s hoof—they’re a chicken and pig, after all. Gentle wordplay is beautifully childlike: Clarabelle says, “I want to leave this store of lostness,” after becoming disoriented in a department store. Palacios, Pura Belpré illustration honoree for Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match /Marisol McDonald no combina, by Monica Brown (2011), decorates almost every spread with soft and warm-colored paintings. Agnes often dons a bow, and Clarabelle wears flowers; they are often inexplicably, but sweetly, surrounded by birds. Sequel Agnes and Clarabelle Celebrate! publishes simultaneously.
Though episodic rather than eventful, it’s sure to entertain young readers transitioning to chapter books . (Fiction. 5-7)Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61963-778-8
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
Although the author may be famous in the adult literary world, this story is not a success.
A well-known New Zealand writer for adults offers children a tale about an inanimate object who wants to live like a person.
A mountain walks to town, where it meets Thomas, a white boy who stays behind when all the other people flee, and says: “I only want to live in a house.” Thomas decides that the mountain is too large for any house. There is a folkloric element to the tale, as Thomas tries in three ways to help the mountain get his wish. First he attempts to shrink the mountain with soap and water and then chips away at the stone. Finally, he decides that his father, an artist, will paint the mountain’s picture and put it in a house. He persuades the mountain that it can remain a place where people can enjoy picnicking and skiing and still live in a house with people, a Solomonic solution that may not resonate with the intended audience. The acrylic paintings, mostly in shades of brown and gray, are realistically rendered, except when the mountain comes to life with the craggy, anthropomorphized face of a sculpted idol. There is a surrealist, static feel to some of the paintings, and the language, no doubt aspiring as well to the folkloric, is stilted.
Although the author may be famous in the adult literary world, this story is not a success. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-76036-002-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Starfish Bay
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
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