by Dave Whamond ; illustrated by Dave Whamond ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 15, 2014
A winning theme for the early sports shelf.
Oddrey and her friends learn about teamwork and fun on the soccer field in Whamond’s newest offering about his kooky heroine.
With so many soccer-playing kids today, it’s a delight to see the sport depicted in the pages of a picture book. Oddrey is excited about joining the Piccadilla Bees when her friend Maybelline (the team star and quite a ball hog) invites her to play. As they practice, however, it’s quickly apparent that Oddrey’s penchant for quirky leaps and flourishes hinders her progress on the field. The other children’s efforts similarly evoke a Bad News Bears sort of vibe, and they are unquestionably hampered, in part, by Maybelline’s overblown ego and her refusal to pass the ball. Oddrey’s epiphanic sighting of a bee inspires her to liken the team to a hive in which each Piccadilla Bee teammate has a specific role. While the ineffectual coach stands by, she instructs “Queen Bee” Maybelline to pass the ball, and the other players then use moves that had been their downfalls in practice to the team’s advantage. “The Bees didn’t win that day,” reads the text. “But they did have fun playing together.” Although the text could have used some paring down to match the fast pace of the illustrations, the energetic, cartoonish art deftly draws on comic art conventions to carry the narrative.
A winning theme for the early sports shelf. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-77147-061-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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by Rachel Bright ; illustrated by Chris Chatterton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 6, 2022
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily.
A group of young “dinosauruses” go out into the world on their own.
A fuchsia little Hugasaurus and her Pappysaur (both of whom resemble Triceratops) have never been apart before, but Hugasaurus happily heads off with lunchbox in hand and “wonder in her heart” to make new friends. The story has a first-day-of-school feeling, but Hugasaurus doesn’t end up in a formal school environment; rather, she finds herself on a playground with other little prehistoric creatures, though no teacher or adult seems to be around. At first, the new friends laugh and play. But Hugasaurus’ pals begin to squabble, and play comes to a halt. As she wonders what to do, a fuzzy platypus playmate asks some wise questions (“What…would your Pappy say to do? / What makes YOU feel better?”), and Hugasaurus decides to give everyone a hug—though she remembers to ask permission first. Slowly, good humor is restored and play begins anew with promises to be slow to anger and, in general, to help create a kinder world. Short rhyming verses occasionally use near rhyme but also include fun pairs like ripples and double-triples. Featuring cozy illustrations of brightly colored creatures, the tale sends a strong message about appropriate and inappropriate ways to resolve conflict, the final pages restating the lesson plainly in a refrain that could become a classroom motto. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-82869-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
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by Rachel Bright ; illustrated by Nadia Shireen
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by Dana Meachen Rau ; illustrated by Wook Jin Jung ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2013
A straightforward tale of conflict and reconciliation for newly emergent readers? Not exactly, which raises it above the...
In this deceptively spare, very beginning reader, a girl assembles a robot and then treats it like a slave until it goes on strike.
Having put the robot together from a jumble of loose parts, the budding engineer issues an increasingly peremptory series of rhymed orders— “Throw, Bot. / Row, Bot”—that turn from playful activities like chasing bubbles in the yard to tasks like hoeing the garden, mowing the lawn and towing her around in a wagon. Jung crafts a robot with riveted edges, big googly eyes and a smile that turns down in stages to a scowl as the work is piled on. At last, the exhausted robot plops itself down, then in response to its tormentor’s angry “Don’t say no, Bot!” stomps off in a huff. In one to four spacious, sequential panels per spread, Jung develops both the plotline and the emotional conflict using smoothly modeled cartoon figures against monochromatic or minimally detailed backgrounds. The child’s commands, confined in small dialogue balloons, are rhymed until her repentant “Come on home, Bot” breaks the pattern but leads to a more equitable division of labor at the end.
A straightforward tale of conflict and reconciliation for newly emergent readers? Not exactly, which raises it above the rest. (Easy reader. 4-6)Pub Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-87083-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
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by Dana Meachen Rau and illustrated by Melissa Iwai
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