A clever, humorous approach to the world of letters, words, and literacy.
When Dog spots the letters of the alphabet floating overhead and is not sure what they might be, Cat interrupts a bath to explain what the letters are for and how they are used.
With a certain sardonic wit, knowledgeable Cat demonstrates to the less-informed Dog how letters are rearranged to make words. Cat begins to poke the letters with a stick, and after they come crashing down, some on Dog’s head (“Ouch! You did that on purpose”), Dog begins to sweep them away. “These things are dangerous.” Cat quickly interrupts to show how they can begin to put the letters together. “Let’s try spelling our names.” This results in a cheeky, literal “our names,” which prompts Dog to attempt a version with “dat and cog.” Cat then creates a long affirmative statement: “letters can make words that are brilliant and awesome or dark and scary or sunny and happy or rainy and sad.” (The arrangement of these block letters on a double-page spread may require a moment or two to parse.) Dog complains, weeping and pounding the floor: “BUT IT’S ALL SO COMPLICATED!” Yet Cat, armed with a stack of books, asserts the best thing to be done with letters is to make lots of words. Black-and-white cartoon art against a very stark white backdrop extends this duo’s banter. Splashes of color add emphasis, such as Cat’s large stack of colorfully covered books.
A clever, humorous approach to the world of letters, words, and literacy. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8075-1096-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too many bugs, figuratively.
Lucy, “the youngest member of a family of fireflies,” must overcome an irrational, moon-induced anxiety in order to leave her family tree trunk and glow.
The first six pages pull readers into a lush, beautiful world of nighttime: “When the sun has set, silence falls over the Big Forest, and all of the nighttime animals wake up.” Mixed media provide an enchanting forest background, with stylized flora and fauna eventually illuminated by a large, benign moon, because the night “doesn’t like to catch them by surprise.” Turning the page catches readers by surprise, though: the family of fireflies is decidedly comical and silly-looking. Similarly, the text moves from a lulling, magical cadence to a distinct shift in mood as the bugs ready themselves for their foray into the night: “They wave their bottoms in the air, wiggle their feelers, take a deep, deep breath, and sing, ‘Here we go, it’s time to glow!’ ” It’s an acceptable change, but more unevenness follows. Lucy’s excitement about finally joining the other bugs turns to “sobbing” two nights in a row. Instead of directly linking her behavior to understandable reactions of children to newness, the text undermines itself by making Lucy’s parents’ sweet reassurances impotent and using the grandmother’s scientific explanation of moonlight as an unnecessary metaphor. Further detracting from the story, the text becomes ever denser and more complex over the book’s short span.
Too many bugs, figuratively. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-84-16147-00-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
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