A blooper.
It’s down to the final three. Can “The Slugger” win the big spelling bee?
The championship round starts with easy words, like “cupcake” and “brain.” Then there are harder words, like “reindeer,” “rumpus” “llama” and ”“giraffe,” images of which go right from The Slugger’s mind onto the page. Cornelius is eliminated on the word “mysterious,” so only Ruby stands between him and victory. After nine rounds, the bee is deadlocked, and the principal makes a dramatic decision: The two contestants will give the definitions of words as well as spell them. The next word up is “sesquipedalian.” The Slugger makes his best guess, but...”I was out! I’d been benched! / I was out like a jerk. / Ruby rose from her chair / and went straight to her work.” The next day, it takes his teacher to gently set him straight. Ruby won since she knows what matters is to use words well; reading is better than just memorizing words. “And there’s always next year.” Armstrong-Ellis’ illustrations—a complex product of gouache, ink and colored pencil—have sharp resolution and humorous touches, though they seem aimed at a younger audience than the text. Rose’s “Casey at the Bat”–inflected verse is above average, but her baseball analogy is inconsistent, and worthy though it is, her message comes out of left field.
A blooper. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0847-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: July 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
Very young gardeners will need more information, but for certain picky eaters, the suggested strategy just might work.
A young spinach hater becomes a spinach lover after she has to grow her own in a class garden.
Unable to trade away the seed packet she gets from her teacher for tomatoes, cukes or anything else more palatable, Sylvia reluctantly plants and nurtures a pot of the despised veggie then transplants it outside in early spring. By the end of school, only the plot’s lettuce, radishes and spinach are actually ready to eat (talk about a badly designed class project!)—and Sylvia, once she nerves herself to take a nibble, discovers that the stuff is “not bad.” She brings home an armful and enjoys it from then on in every dish: “And that was the summer Sylvia Spivens said yes to spinach.” Raff uses unlined brushwork to give her simple cartoon illustrations a pleasantly freehand, airy look, and though Pryor skips over the (literally, for spinach) gritty details in both the story and an afterword, she does cover gardening basics in a simple and encouraging way.
Very young gardeners will need more information, but for certain picky eaters, the suggested strategy just might work. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9836615-1-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Readers to Eaters
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2012
When Bibi, her first and favorite babysitter, moves away, it takes all of August for 8-year-old Eleanor to get beyond her sense of loss and get used to a new caretaker. Her parents grieve, too; her mother even takes some time off work. But, as is inevitable in a two-income family, eventually a new sitter appears. Natalie is sensible and understanding. They find new activities to do together, including setting up a lemonade stand outside Eleanor’s Brooklyn apartment building, waiting for Val, the mail carrier, and taking pictures of flowers with Natalie’s camera. Gradually Eleanor adjusts, September comes, her new teacher writes a welcoming letter, her best friend returns from summer vacation and third grade starts smoothly. Best of all, Val brings a loving letter from Bibi in Florida. While the story is relatively lengthy, each chapter is a self-contained episode, written simply and presented in short lines, accessible to those still struggling with the printed word. Cordell’s gray-scale line drawings reflect the action and help break up the text on almost every page. This first novel is a promising debut. Eleanor’s concerns, not only about her babysitter, but also about playmates, friends and a new school year will be familiar to readers, who will look forward to hearing more about her life. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8109-8424-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
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