Deep in the swamp dwells Stinky, a purple, spotted monster with horns and a hedgehog ’do. Stinky lives up to his name, and the swamp is the perfect place for him: “I love the mushy, mucky mud. / I love the slimy slugs. / And I love the stinky smell! / (SNIFF) AHHHH…” But on the other side of the swamp is the town, which is full of children, who “like to take baths!” When a little boy builds a treehouse in Stinky’s swamp, he tries everything he can think of to drive the disgustingly clean creature out—until he discovers that this particular child is definitely a kindred spirit. This entry in the TOON line of comic-book early readers features agreeably distinct, faintly retro graphics in a crystal-clear sequential layout dotted with carefully placed environmental print and sound effects (“BLORP, BLORP”) to complement the speech balloons. The winning story carries itself on spunk and a controlled vocabulary that combines judiciously chosen sight words (onion, gross) with easily sounded-out words (slimy slugs!) that will have emerging readers in stitches. (Early reader. 4-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9799238-4-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: RAW Junior/TOON Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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