Previously self-published, this tale ably uses a modern artistic approach to tell an age-old tale of virtue and its rewards.
An insolent Taíno boy learns a valuable lesson in cooperative behavior when he is magically transformed into a tree frog in this Spanish-language retelling of a Puerto Rican folk tale.
The good children living on the island of Borikén help their mothers and fathers with the daily fishing and fruit gathering and then attend the full moon festival. Kiki Kokí is lazy and indifferent, declaring that the festival is stupid and that helping is no fun. Forbidden from attending, Kokí runs away and is turned into a golden tree frog by the angry moon goddess. Kokí must show, for 30 days, his willingness to help the other frogs, or he will remain a tree frog forever. The chastened Kokí works with his new amphibian friends to clean, gather food and cook, and even demonstrates a newfound selflessness when he helps them escape a group of rat pirates. Impressed, the moon goddess sends him back home as a boy, and he becomes the best helper while still having fun. Former Disney designer Rodríguez takes the coquí frog, the Puerto Rican national symbol, and uses bold, opaque colors to capture it in a caricature that will be familiar to cartoon-savvy youngsters. The dense tropical forests contain both breech-clout–clad Indians and fanciful amphibian villages with modern conveniences.
Previously self-published, this tale ably uses a modern artistic approach to tell an age-old tale of virtue and its rewards. (Spanish picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62672-104-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2015
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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BOOK REVIEW
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