An uneven children’s book, although some readers may be amused by its brightly colored dream world.
A young bicycle lover travels through a bizarre, humorous dreamscape in Spilman’s debut picture book.
Kylee, an energetic grade schooler, loves riding her bicycle. On one Friday night, she falls asleep as her father tells her a story, and she dreams of a world full of bikes. After she finds her favorite three-speed, she takes off, and the bicycle flies through the clouds. When a Little Purple Creature offers to take Kylee on an even bigger adventure, the little girl requests something musical—and in no time at all, they’re surrounded by piano playing cows, dueling basses and crabs on seashell drum kits. Like other picture books about dream journeys, the imagery is silly throughout, and young readers will likely chuckle at the sheer absurdity of electric guitar–playing star-shaped clouds. Illustrator Naumovich ably provides bright, whimsical illustrations, with slightly unfinished edges that emphasize the dreamscape. Spilman’s text, however, never quite reaches the potential of the silly scenes she creates. The stilted rhyme scheme’s meter never quite flows, particularly when read aloud: “In front of Kylee sat a Little Purple Creature who turned around to say– / ‘I’m here to take you on a Fantastic Adventure. Please tell me what to find.’ / Kylee thought a little, and excitedly answered, / ‘I want to have a musical adventure, if you wouldn’t mind.’ ” Although parents may be glad to see bike-riding Kylee wearing a helmet, and children may be enchanted by the eye-catching images, the text, with its large vocabulary, may be too challenging for beginning readers. Independent readers, however, may wish for a stronger plot.
An uneven children’s book, although some readers may be amused by its brightly colored dream world.Pub Date: May 31, 2013
ISBN: 978-0983986843
Page Count: -
Publisher: Freeze Time Media
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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