Broadly entertaining.
A small elephant’s superhero ambitions leave unintended chaos wherever he goes.
The determined Jumbo, in gray overalls, takes a creative approach to being super: he hoists barbells crafted from two halves of a watermelon, fires a plumber’s helper from a curved bow, and sports a bright yellow cape and eye mask cut from the middle of the living-room curtains. Messes abound in his wake. Out in the neighborhood, Jumbo stops traffic (assorted animal pedestrians and drivers) for a small parade of snails. He brings a ladder to “help” a cat up a tree. He shoos birds away from popcorn scattered by an elderly elephant in the park. These deeds go unappreciated, as the young audience will guess. Yet faced with the opportunity to be of real assistance, sweet-toothed Jumbo resists the call of the wares in the cake-shop window. He hurries to help, has just the right tool at hand, and makes a friend. Koehler’s chunky, bold lines and varying perspectives are comical and lively, while the simple text offers several moments of nicely silly contrasts between the elephantine wannabe superhero’s intentions and his results. Amusing vignettes of the superhero on the title page, verso, and dedication page offer glimpses of Jumbo’s challenges. A box of Jumbo cookies makes its appearance early on and reappears several times before the end.
Broadly entertaining. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3923-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
The runaway cookie in this Mexican bakery is a soft, brown, stubby-tailed piglet as impertinently bold and smug in his continual escape as his Gingerbread Boy cousin. “Chase me! Chase me down the street. But this is one piggy you won’t get to eat! / ¡Córrele, córrele! ¡Y Córrele más! ¡Soy el cochinito que jamás comerás!” This bouncy dual refrain extends the familiar cumulative text, rendered in both English and Spanish, as piggy manages to elude Marta the baker, Lorenzo the mechanic, Mamá Nita the beautician, Joaquín the telephone repairman and a host of other neighborhood adults—until he is outsmarted by Rosa, a little girl on her way to school, who foxily “helps him” cross the street. Safely tucked into her backpack, piggy is both a welcome surprise and an excuse for Rosa’s lateness to class. Deep opaque acrylic paintings of a colorful barrio and its residents in pursuit add the right amount of cultural flavor to this vivid Latino retelling. Recipe appended. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-55885-586-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
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