Fee fi fo fum / A merry old tale that’s No. 1! (Picture book. 4-7)
An oversized gourmand with a penchant for little children has a change of heart (and stomach).
Who could blame the Giant of Jum for eyeing his daily fare of broccoli with more than a modicum of distaste? Inspired by “Jack and the Beanstalk” (and conveniently forgetting the ending), the giant sets out to fill his tum with tots. Yet each time he encounters potential prey, they end up getting him to help them fetch their ball, save their cat from a tree, and so on. When he finally meets a boy named Jack, his proclamation that he intends to devour the lad is met with skepticism on the part of the other kids. They hand over a massive cake they’ve special ordered for him in thanks, and the giant comes away with the undeniable realization that “Chocolate’s much better than children!” The cadence of the lines dances on the pages, perfectly playing off the old “Fee Fi Fo Fum” rhymes with eloquence and aplomb. Fully embracing the spirit of the enterprise, Davies has a great deal of fun with the images, filling their corners with animals hiding not-so-cleverly from the perpetually hungry ogre. The giant himself never crosses over into the truly scary; he is depicted as a gargantuan white man with a house for a hat. The children are a multiracial crew.
Fee fi fo fum / A merry old tale that’s No. 1! (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62779-515-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet sentiment and a great way to get kids pumped about school and learning—Miss Frizzle would be proud.
North and Hall pair up for another imaginative what-if offering (Because I Am Your Daddy, 2010, etc.), this time introducing young readers to different modes of transportation.
A tiny (four-student) multicultural class armchair-journeys with their teacher: “If we had a chopper, we would soar above the cone / of a rumbling volcano as it churns out liquid stone.” Camels would allow the students to see the Egyptian pyramids, and an airboat would be the perfect way to see the Everglades. But this class isn’t afraid to use their own muscles—cross-country skiing in Antarctica, hang gliding in the Outback and kayaking the Grand Canyon. Among others, the adventures include hot air ballooning over China’s Great Wall, seeing Venice by gondola and blasting off in a rocket ship into space. North sticks to the format of the two previous titles, missing the rhythm and rhyme in only a few spots. But she neglects the perfect opportunity to plug reading as the way to see the world, instead ending with, “Our classroom is our vessel, / always headed someplace new. // Because you are our teacher, / We’ll see the world with you.” Hall’s watercolors capture the essential elements of each destination, colors, textures and movement matching the natural world, and a comical mouse that appears in each illustration gives readers something to search for.
A sweet sentiment and a great way to get kids pumped about school and learning—Miss Frizzle would be proud. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0385-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Art as the ultimate sustainer of life—food for thought, albeit puzzling.
A walrus’ artistic prowess brings more than just visual rewards to his hungry neighbors.
Mäko inhabits a world of ice floes and deep, cold water. He dives for fish, the inspiration for sculptures he creates with his tusks. Other walruses, seals and penguins then use these statues as their guides when finding fish. Then, suddenly and without warning, the ice floe collapses and with it the culinary map. The other animals, now hungry, discover a newfound respect for Mäko, whom they previously thought somewhat odd. That night, he sets to work on a collection of ice blocks, and the result is quite dramatic, bordering on biblical proportions. In his debut picture book, Béziat, a French author and artist, has created a stark world of white ice and blue water, with animals defined through fine, black, line drawings. His tale, written in short declarative sentences, is open to interpretation. Adult readers may ponder the power of artistic vision, but children are likely to just see a pretty amazing character. Unfortunately, the staccato text feels at odds with the lofty theme.
Art as the ultimate sustainer of life—food for thought, albeit puzzling. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 31, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-554455-275-7
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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