by Elizabeth Keeler Robinson & illustrated by Bob McMahon ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2008
Five children get busy earning funds to build a clubhouse in this primer on U.S. currency. Starting with a penny—good for “a perfect penny nail”—they pool resources as they industriously gather recyclable bottles, set up a lemonade stand and more; each project escalates the income, from a nickel to a dime to a quarter to, ultimately, a $100 bill. McMahon’s cartoons depict not only a cadre of boisterous young entrepreneurs laboring in a sunny suburban setting, but the front and back of each coin or bill, plus views of the hardware or other supplies that each would buy. These values may be already behind the inflationary times, but the designs are current enough to include the new fiver, and the clubhouse does get built. Robinson closes with notes on both how our money’s look changes regularly and also on skipped denominations: the 50-cent piece; the $1 coin and the $2 bill. Promoting the rewards of work along with exposing readers to the look and uses of money, plus a bit of arithmetic, this makes salutary reading on more than one level. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-58246-214-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tricycle
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2008
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by Anne Miranda & illustrated by Anne Miranda ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1999
Miranda’s book counts the monsters gathering at a birthday party, while a simple rhyming text keeps the tally and surveys the action: “Seven starved monsters are licking the dishes./Eight blow out candles and make birthday wishes.” The counting proceeds to ten, then by tens to fifty, then gradually returns to one, which makes the monster’s mother, a purple pin-headed octopus, very happy. The book is surprisingly effective due to Powell’s artwork; the color has texture and density, as if it were poured onto the page, but the real attention-getter is the singularity of every monster attendee. They are highly individual and, therefore, eminently countable. As the numbers start crawling upward, it is both fun and a challenge to try to recognize monsters who have appeared in previous pages, or to attempt to stay focused when counting the swirling or bunched creatures. The story has glints of humor, and in combination with the illustrations is a grand addition to the counting shelf. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201835-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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by Sara Ball with Matt Garczynski ; illustrated by Sara Ball ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 9, 2018
Dog lovers and young Dr. Moreaus alike will guffaw.
Split pages allow mixing and matching sections of 10 purebred canines.
Forget cockapoos and labradoodles—flipping the three segments here back and forth makes for some truly unlikely hybrids: “I’m a Bulldog— / Yorkshire Terrier— / Great Dane mix”; “I’m a Komondor— / Greyhound— / Poodle mix”; “I’m a Dachshund— / Shar-Pei— / Dalmatian mix.” Ball (Flip-O-Storic, 2011) cranks up the drollery with a set of big, handsome pooches drawn and colored to set off their distinctive characteristics, posed naturalistically against plain yellow backgrounds, and looking up or out with doggy devotion. She also adds the occasional tail-pulling puppy, silly hat, or other comical side business. In addition to the identifying captions, Garczynski contributes a table of descriptive information about each breed at the beginning. This includes to-scale silhouettes that are helpful since all of the interior dogs are rendered the same size so that the transitions more or less match up. (Although the Yorkie’s stubby forelegs still make a peculiar mismatch with the lanky hind limbs of the Great Dane.) Also, each sturdy strip features a “personal” observation, such as the Dalmatian’s “I’m known for my distinctive spots. If I open my mouth, you’ll even see spots in there.” Aside from the note of condescension in the Shar-Pei’s claim that its tongue “was once thought to ward off evil spirits,” these last are at least innocuous and sometimes informative.
Dog lovers and young Dr. Moreaus alike will guffaw. (Novelty picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7892-1310-5
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Abbeville Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
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