No question—a large fraction of parents and teachers will be reaching for this.
Not only tackling fractions, but simplifying them, this fills a need and thoroughly entertains.
George Cornelius Factor (G.C.F., get it?) collects fractions. But he’s not alone: Baron von Mathematik and Madame de Géométrique also covet the 5/8 that is newly up for auction. But the nefarious Dr. Brok, a master of disguise, steals it. He “can take a 1/2 and turn it into a 2/4 or a 3/6. It’s still the same fraction, but it looks different.” George won’t be deterred. He invents a Reducer—half ray gun, half calculator—that zaps fractions into their lowest terms and goes to Dr. Brok’s mansion to confront him and find the 5/8. A clever bit of detective work and a rousing action sequence later, and the 5/8 is back to its lowest terms and part of George’s collection. Throughout, Einhorn finds ways to humorously add fractions to his tale—the fraction lovers bid portions of $1 million, and Brok’s mansion is 1/10 of a mile tall—and painlessly describes the process of reducing them to their lowest terms. Backmatter summarizes the learning, though not as simply as the text. Clark’s ink-and-watercolor illustrations truly make the characters’ personalities shine. Dr. Brok looks something like professor Hinkle of Frosty the Snowman fame, while the pages simply ooze with the aura of a great mystery.
No question—a large fraction of parents and teachers will be reaching for this. (Math picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: March 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-57091-773-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
Bland at first glance, appropriately eerie and disquieting on closer examination.
An accordion-folded edition of the classic cautionary story, with deceptively simple cut-out illustrations on card stock that can be viewed in color or, reversed, as silhouettes.
The text—strictly an afterthought, printed in tiny type and so ill-fitting that the final passages spill out onto the rear cover—is Margaret Hunt’s 19th-century translation with Little Red-Cap’s name altered despite the fact that a cap is what she’s wearing in the pictures. Children will know how the story goes anyway, and they will have no trouble following along as the doll-like, apple-cheeked child meets a properly frightening black wolf with bright red teeth and is later devoured along with her grandmother. Because the pages of die-cut art are dead black on one side and white with red and black highlights on the other, not only are several layers visible at once, but the overlaps create ominous shadows and depths behind the figures. Moreover, though Sourdais leaves out explicit views of the wolf being cut open and, later, flensed by the “huntsman,” she does add a provocative note to the climactic bedside scene by stripping Little Red to her red-and-black polka-dot underclothes.
Bland at first glance, appropriately eerie and disquieting on closer examination. (Novelty picture book/folk tale. 7-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-3-89955-723-7
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Little Gestalten
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Well-meant but more didactic than entertaining.
When Leo outgrows his beloved red bicycle, he sends it to Burkina Faso, where it takes on new lives.
This addition to the publisher’s CitizenKid collection follows the journey of an 18-speed bicycle from its first owner, a North American boy, to a country where bicycles are more useful than cars. Its new owner, Alisetta, can now get quickly to her fields and take sorghum and other goods to market, enriching the lives of her family. After a small disaster that renders it useless to the family, the bicycle is refurbished as an ambulance. A third owner, Haridata, brings patients to a medical clinic. The wordy narrative appears to focus on the bicycle, but perhaps because the writer tries to include as many details as possible about life in Burkina Faso, her story never comes alive. Each spread includes a summary line, which would be useful for read-alouds were it not printed nearly invisibly against the background illustration. Shin’s digitally composed illustrations include vignettes, full-page images and occasional double-page spreads. Details of clothing and the characters’ bike-related activities are clearly depicted. One helpful spread shows the bike’s shipboard path superimposed on a simple world map. The backmatter includes suggestions for readers to involve themselves in bicycle donation and a note for parents and teachers.
Well-meant but more didactic than entertaining. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: March 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-77138-023-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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