Not as “Ick”y as the spinach is in Eula’s estimation but far from Mouse’s opening observation of “Amazing!” (Picture book....
An abecedary follow-up to Schoonmaker’s debut, Square Cat (2011).
The titular square cat, Eula, wearing a floppy green-and-yellow hat, is busy with shovel and seeds when a portly blue-and-pink mouse happens along. Quizzed about her actions, Eula discloses that she’s “Gardening” but that she doesn’t care for Mouse’s favorite, spinach. The sudden appearance of a porcupine (heralded by the words “Kerplunk” and “Kaboom” to fulfill the need for words beginning with K) startles the mouse but doesn’t faze the cat. Mouse’s fears are allayed by Eula’s calm explanation that the prickly animal is her friend and the discovery that the porcupine also likes spinach. Convinced to sample it, Eula still finds the leafy green stuff “Yucky” (“eXtremely” so, in fact), leading Mouse to suggest that she try a “Zucchini, perhaps?” Created in watercolor, gouache, watercolor pencils and ink, the pictures are pleasingly childlike and stand out well against the abundant white space. Unfortunately, they appear static and flat when paired with the staccato text. Letters are emphasized with red print, but varying between upper- and lowercase letters may create confusion, as will a few unusual flourishes in the typeface selected.
Not as “Ick”y as the spinach is in Eula’s estimation but far from Mouse’s opening observation of “Amazing!” (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Dec. 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9895-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
