Big on visual appeal if short on storytelling innovation.
Growing pains abound in this follow-up to internet star Engledow’s The Little Girl Who Didn’t Want to Go to Bed (2017).
As in his previous title and his online work, Engledow uses humorous, digitally manipulated, composite photographs of his daughter, a blonde white girl. In this story, she wants to grow up quickly in order to do “big things,” and she tries various tactics to make herself grow. While one photo shows her arms lengthened to unnatural proportions after stretching with weights, it’s not until she follows her parents’ advice to “think big” that she awakens transformed into a larger-than-life child. Towering over her parents, she now rides atop the family station wagon instead of in her car seat, and she does “big things,” too: from washing the roof of her house to “serving her country” by lifting the dome off the Capitol building to declare “You’ll never accomplish big things if you keep acting like little children.” This moment feels rather self-important and off-mark in terms of child appeal, but subsequent spreads are stronger as they show the giant girl sitting on a mountaintop and eventually snoozing on a distant planet as though it were an exercise ball. The imaginative conclusion finds her reunited with her parents, glad to be their little girl.
Big on visual appeal if short on storytelling innovation. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-242539-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Pair this with Leo Timmers’ Who Is Driving? (2007) for twice the guessing fun.
Heling and Hembrook’s clever conceit challenges children to analyze a small town’s clotheslines to guess the job each of their owners does.
Close-up on the clothesline: “Uniform and cap, / an invite for you. / Big bag of letters. / What job does she do?” A turn of the page reveals a macro view of the home, van and the woman doing her job, “She is a mail carrier.” Indeed, she can be spotted throughout the book delivering invitations to all the rest of the characters, who gather at the end for a “Launch Party.” The verses’ rhymes are spot-on, though the rhythm falters a couple of times. The authors nicely mix up the gender stereotypes often associated with several of these occupations, making the carpenter, firefighter and astronaut women. But while Davies keeps uniforms and props pretty neutral (he even avoids U.S. mail symbols), he keeps to the stereotypes that allow young readers to easily identify occupations—the farmer chews on a stalk of wheat; the beret-wearing artist sports a curly mustache. A subdued palette and plain white backgrounds keep kids’ focus on the clothing clues. Still, there are plenty of details to absorb—the cat with arched back that anticipates a spray of water, the firefighter who “lights” the rocket.
Pair this with Leo Timmers’ Who Is Driving? (2007) for twice the guessing fun. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-58089-251-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Egg-stra special.
The creators of Pick a Pine Tree (2017) and Pick a Pumpkin (2019) cover each step of a popular Easter tradition.
The first stop for a light-skinned caregiver and child is the farm. Peering into the henhouse, they spot an egg (reminding readers that eggs don’t originate at the grocery store). More eggs are collected throughout the spring countryside and brought home, ready to hard boil. While the eggs are cooling, it’s time to prepare the dye! The lively text highlights natural methods first (“Stew some plants / to make a brew: / beets turn eggs / a rosy hue. / Spinach? Green! / Berries? Blue! / Try some herbs / or spices, too”) but also gives a nod to store-bought kits. After a full day of egg decorating, the youngster wakes up the next morning for a festive neighborhood egg hunt. Happily, treats found inside plastic eggs are not limited to sugar only; they include secret notes, tiny toys, and coins, too. (The child adds their dyed eggs to this bounty.) Sprays of bright greens, a shining sun, and dotted buds on trees as well as pastel bunting and fuzzy bunny ears and flower crowns on little ones bring a light, airy lift to this joyful community gathering. The children involved in the egg hunt are diverse in skin tone. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Egg-stra special. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2847-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
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