The title reference to Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess has no bearing upon the content of this story, making it seem like a gimmick rather than a thoughtful choice. Characters are not African Americans, but anthropomorphic animals: Porky, a sloppy pig, and Bess, a fastidious mother cat. Throughout five short chapters, the odd-couple friends at turns enjoy one another’s company and struggle to see past their differences. Winborn’s watercolor illustrations enhance the story (of particular note is the humorous clothing she creates for Porky) and provide visual cues for readers as they follow Porky’s efforts to bake a cake (aided by Bess) and to write a poem in tribute to their friendship. Readers will likely arrive at the concluding rhyme Porky struggles to create well before he does: “And when the day is at an end, / I like that Bess is my best friend.” The brief chapters are broken into short paragraphs, and although this isn’t a particularly exciting read, this structure and the story’s resolution will be satisfying for new readers. (Early reader. 6-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-375-85458-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2010
McClements takes a distinctly parental point of view in portraying a young veggie-hater’s nightly dinner-table performance. “Time for another fun-filled hour,” observes Dad grimly, setting down a plate holding three seemingly boulder-sized peas in front of the hyper-dramatic lad who narrates. One touch of pea to tongue is all it takes to elicit writhing fingers (“Ahh . . . I knew it would start with the fingers”), curling toes (“That’s a new one!”) and twitches that are violent enough to knock over the chair as the child is transformed into . . . “a veggie monster!” Peas choked down at last, the crisis ends—but, of course, there’s always tomorrow’s broccoli. Created with a mix of clipped photo-bits of food and utensils and figures cut from brown paper, the illustrations have a simple look that goes with the pared-down text, the perspectives and dramatic effect reminiscent of Mo Willems’s Pigeon books, but it doesn’t really capture the drama like Lauren Child’s I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato (2000). Still, it may help similarly picky children, and their caregivers, get over taking themselves too seriously. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-59990-061-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2007
A second scintillating celebration of personal style and dad-daughter DIY.
Reality puts only a temporary damper on big, glittery plans for a sleepover castle.
New school friend Tam, who shared bánh mi at lunch in The One and Only Sparkella (2021), is arriving in two hours, and before that Sparkella needs to make a castle “fit for two royal highnesses.” Unfortunately, even with Dad’s help, the flimsy cardboard construction collapses as soon as Sparkella climbs inside to test it. What to do? After giving the pouting princess some personal time in the garage, Dad points the way: “I think you have to take what you have and make it SPARKLE like only you can.” And, indeed, by the time brown-skinned “Tam, Queen of Kittens” is dropped off by her grandma, a pair of folding tables have been transformed with paint, wrapping paper, and colorful fabrics into the sparkliest castle ever! Laying on saturated colors and sprays of tiny stars with a lavish hand, Barnes depicts the two young “royals” in flamboyantly decorated settings—even Dad’s motorcycle is a dazzling confection awash in bows, and Dad himself, light-skinned like Sparkella, isn’t the least decorative element considering his fondness for sporting a purple boa and outrageous eyewear when occasion demands. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A second scintillating celebration of personal style and dad-daughter DIY. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-75076-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
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