Less implausible than Casey Lyell and Sebastià Serra’s Inky’s Great Escape (2017) but still unfortunate.
Inky the octopus sings his tale.
Longing for the excitement of the “open sea,” a captive octopus describes its getaway. Basing her re-creation on an actual octopus’s escape from the New Zealand Aquarium, in 2016, Guendelsberger imagines the dissonance between Inky’s comfortable familiarity with aquarium life and his yearning to be free, finishing with his actual escape. The text is written in ballad meter, repeating variations on the refrain: “Out of this tank, I must break free. / I hear the ocean calling me!” Readers aloud may find some arrhythmic lines: “I’ve always liked eight-arm charades and seaweed hide-and-seek. / I’ve had fun playing gravel hockey and tentacle tag each week.” More importantly, the first-person narrative anthropomorphizes this alien ocean invertebrate, attributing dreams, senses, and communication skills that are human but not likely appropriate for octopuses or even fish. (In contradiction to the endmatter entry, the correct plural is octopuses, not the occasional octopodes or the incorrect back-formation octopi.) In a highly unlikely conversation with his tankmate Blotchy, he invites the fish to accompany him into “the far and great unknown.” The fish replies he would “rather stay / within his comfy home.” Leonard’s appealing cartoon illustrations reinforce this anthropomorphizing, with amusing expressions in Inky’s humanoid eyes and even a bag of belongings hanging from one tentacle as he imagines his quest. All the humans shown seem to be white. Since the actual escape was nothing short of astonishing, the anthropomorphization serves to cheapen rather than ennoble the subject.
Less implausible than Casey Lyell and Sebastià Serra’s Inky’s Great Escape (2017) but still unfortunate. (historical note, octopus facts, bibliography) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4926-5414-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Gives new meaning to the notion that every dog—or pup—has its day.
A young girl learns that plans that go awry need not spoil the day.
Ollie has ambitious intentions for dog sitting Milo, her grandmother’s puppy, but those plans are spoiled when he chews up her drawing, a gift intended for Grandma when she returns from visiting friends. The girl scolds the little dog and then takes some time to herself, leaving him behind and walking farther and farther away from home in order to cool off. But as the illustrations show, Milo is never far behind, surreptitiously trailing her all the way through the woods. Ollie reflects on the part she played in the drawing’s destruction, since she knew better than to leave it unguarded on the floor, and she regrets getting mad at the dog. When she finally stops and wishes for company, the loyal pup is right nearby. They spend their day frolicking in the woods, playing fetch, splashing in mud puddles, and hunting for treasure as pirates. When they return home, she still has time to draw another picture or two. Accessible text with relatable, appealing characters helps the message of adaptability go down smoothly. The charming artwork features various shades of gray as well as pink and red spot color, often in heart shapes. Ollie, who has skin the white of the page, wears a dog costume throughout the story. Her experience demonstrates that things can work out just fine, even when they weren’t what you had in mind.
Gives new meaning to the notion that every dog—or pup—has its day. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781665965903
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
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