by David Carson & illustrated by David Carson developed by Jolly Bubble ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 3, 2012
Extensive editing and a major software upgrade might raise this wreck, but it will take more than that to keep it afloat.
Written over a decade ago when the author was 10 and evidently never revised, this aquatic app sinks under the combined weight of clumsy prose and a severely limited suite of rudimentary special effects.
The plot is rudimentary too. With help from a sea turtle and other friends (plural in the story, if not the title), a lost baby whale eludes sharks by hiding behind a “giant piece of corral [sic],” then rejoins his mother at last. In each sparely detailed cartoon scene, tapping five buttons shaped like shells or other sea life will cause as many random nautical facts to drop into view. These range from the uselessly broad “50-80% of all life on earth [sic] is found in the ocean,” to an awkwardly phrased claim that the “deepest spot in the ocean is the Mariana Trench and is approximately 35,797 feet deep in the Pacific Ocean.” Tapping anywhere else on any screen causes bubbles to appear with loud bloops, which is the only other interactive feature. There is no audio narration or music, nor options for paging backward or even for starting over.
Extensive editing and a major software upgrade might raise this wreck, but it will take more than that to keep it afloat. (iPad storybook/informational app. 6-8)Pub Date: March 3, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Jolly Bubble
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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by Doreen Cronin & illustrated by Harry Bliss ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2005
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
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by Richard Collingridge ; illustrated by Richard Collingridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 31, 2018
A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off.
This rocket hopes to take its readers on a birthday blast—but there may or may not be enough fuel.
Once a year, a one-seat rocket shoots out from Earth. Why? To reveal a special congratulatory banner for a once-a-year event. The second-person narration puts readers in the pilot’s seat and, through a (mostly) ballad-stanza rhyme scheme (abcb), sends them on a journey toward the sun, past meteors, and into the Kuiper belt. The final pages include additional information on how birthdays are measured against the Earth’s rotations around the sun. Collingridge aims for the stars with this title, and he mostly succeeds. The rhyme scheme flows smoothly, which will make listeners happy, but the illustrations (possibly a combination of paint with digital enhancements) may leave the viewers feeling a little cold. The pilot is seen only with a 1960s-style fishbowl helmet that completely obscures the face, gender, and race by reflecting the interior of the rocket ship. This may allow readers/listeners to picture themselves in the role, but it also may divest them of any emotional connection to the story. The last pages—the backside of a triple-gatefold spread—label the planets and include Pluto. While Pluto is correctly labeled as a dwarf planet, it’s an unusual choice to include it but not the other dwarfs: Ceres, Eris, etc. The illustration also neglects to include the asteroid belt or any of the solar system’s moons.
A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 31, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-18949-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: David Fickling/Phoenix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018
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