Pure commercialized product, offering barely a hint of any literary, dramatic, musical or emotional experience and stocked...
The handful of coloring pages and puzzles supplementing the stills that serve for illustrations and minor interactive features serve as poor substitutes for the original film's swinging (if period, now) songs and lively voice-over performances.
Read optionally in cultured British accents by a single narrator over a background of generic light jazz, the tale does retrace the movie's overall course—though so sketchily that none of the cats, from Duchess and her three kittens to their rescuer O'Malley and his raffish buddies, have a chance to establish much individuality. Furthermore, it's all paced...so...deliberately that many readers will inadvertently swipe ahead and so miss some delayed pans and passages of text. Along with an abbreviated piano keyboard featuring a preprogrammed tune, three (savable) coloring pages and five multileveled jigsaw puzzles provide additional story-derailing distractions. For children with a yen to personalize, the app includes a self-record option and a "bookplate" with spaces for a name and a photo.
Pure commercialized product, offering barely a hint of any literary, dramatic, musical or emotional experience and stocked with a scanty assortment of off-the-shelf interactive elements. (iPad movie storybook app. 5-7)Pub Date: May 31, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Disney Publishing Worldwide Applications
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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