Few books so truthfully represent a child’s wandering, unwavering wondering.
A boy daydreams, wondering “where the birds are flying to,” “who makes the clouds,” “what the best playground in the world might be like,” “what the crossing guard’s sign would taste like,” and “how the stars shine.”
Grown-ups don’t like his reverie one bit. They hiss harsh reprimands, needling him to stay focused and not to let his imagination carry him away. His art teacher, however, encourages him to do just that and offers him a blank piece of drawing paper. The humdrum sepia tones of everyday life disperse as colorful, sparkling birds carry the boy (and readers) aloft into the upper atmosphere of his imagination, a place throbbing with light and color and spinning with spiraling shapes and twisty-turning coils. Children quickly see these delightfully elaborate illustrations (brimming with round bears, bustling bunnies, swirling stars, and puffy clouds) as the boy’s unfettered imaginings, his answers to all those earlier questions. They could easily spend hours belly-down on a rug pondering each of the five double-page spreads, all spectacularly whimsical, humorous, wild, bold, and unbridled. While adult sensibilities might find these pictures overwhelming (or even a bit like a roller-coaster ride after too much candy), children won’t question them at all.
Few books so truthfully represent a child’s wandering, unwavering wondering. (Picture book. 2-8)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7957-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
The action of this rhymed and humorous tale centers upon a mouse who "took a stroll/through the deep dark wood./A fox saw the mouse/and the mouse looked good." The mouse escapes being eaten by telling the fox that he is on his way to meet his friend the gruffalo (a monster of his imagination), whose favorite food is roasted fox. The fox beats a hasty retreat. Similar escapes are in store for an owl and a snake; both hightail it when they learn the particulars: tusks, claws, terrible jaws, eyes orange, tongue black, purple prickles on its back. When the gruffalo suddenly materializes out of the mouse's head and into the forest, the mouse has to think quick, declaring himself inedible as the "scariest creature in the deep dark wood," and inviting the gruffalo to follow him to witness the effect he has on the other creatures. When the gruffalo hears that the mouse's favorite food is gruffalo crumble, he runs away. It's a fairly innocuous tale, with twists that aren't sharp enough and treachery that has no punch. Scheffler's funny scenes prevent the suspense from culminating; all his creatures, predator and prey, are downright lovable. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: June 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8037-2386-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1999
SEEN & HEARD
Teachers looking for a new way to start off the school year will eat this one up.
In Murray’s children’s debut, when a gingerbread man made by schoolchildren gets left behind at recess, he decides he has to find his class: “I’ll run and I’ll run, / As fast as I can. / I can catch them! I’m their / Gingerbread Man!”
And so begins his rollicking rhyming adventure as he runs, limps, slides and skips his way through the school, guided on his way by the friendly teachers he meets. Flattened by a volleyball near the gym, he gets his broken toe fixed by the kindly nurse and then slides down the railing into the art teacher’s lunch. Then it’s off to the principal’s office, where he takes a spin in her chair before she arrives. “The children you mentioned just left you to cool. / They’re hanging these posters of you through the school.” The principal takes him back to the classroom, where the children all welcome him back. The book’s comic-book layout suits the elementary-school tour that this is, while Lowery’s cartoon artwork fits the folktale theme. Created with pencil, screen printing and digital color, the simple illustrations give preschoolers a taste of what school will be like. While the Gingerbread Man is wonderfully expressive, though, the rather cookie-cutter teachers could use a little more life.
Teachers looking for a new way to start off the school year will eat this one up. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25052-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
© Copyright 2025 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.
