If shared one on one as a jumping-off point for discussion, some Asperger children may find this effort amusing, but it’s a...
In this Australian import, Kevin, a grade schooler with Asperger Syndrome takes the world too literally, a problem depicted in brief language and simple illustrations.
Kevin, like everyone in this effort, looks a lot like a soup can with arms and legs—not particularly attractive. Each spread presents a statement summarizing his view of the world: “Kevin thinks that shopping centres are too bright, too noisy and boring.” On many pages a second sentence offers an often ironic comment that contrasts sharply with the boy’s point-of-view: “—but he can always find something to do there.” The accompanying illustration shows Kevin obliviously hidden under a rack of clothing watching television while a store worker reassures his panicked mother and a police officer takes a missing-child report. Another page reports that Kevin believes he isn’t very good at dancing. It shows the rest of his class partnered up, but Kevin has his finger up his nose, leaving his partner and teacher clearly repulsed. If this effort is aimed at children with Asperger, they may find some depictions offensive. If other children are the intended audience, there’s a risk of fostering more bullying and mockery.
If shared one on one as a jumping-off point for discussion, some Asperger children may find this effort amusing, but it’s a poor choice otherwise . (foreword) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-84905-292-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be...
In his third beginning reader about Otto the robot, Milgrim (See Otto, 2002, etc.) introduces another new friend for Otto, a little mouse named Pip.
The simple plot involves a large balloon that Otto kindly shares with Pip after the mouse has a rather funny pointing attack. (Pip seems to be in that I-point-and-I-want-it phase common with one-year-olds.) The big purple balloon is large enough to carry Pip up and away over the clouds, until Pip runs into Zee the bee. (“Oops, there goes Pip.”) Otto flies a plane up to rescue Pip (“Hurry, Otto, Hurry”), but they crash (and splash) in front of some hippos with another big balloon, and the story ends as it begins, with a droll “See Pip point.” Milgrim again succeeds in the difficult challenge of creating a real, funny story with just a few simple words. His illustrations utilize lots of motion and basic geometric shapes with heavy black outlines, all against pastel backgrounds with text set in an extra-large typeface.
Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be welcome additions to the limited selection of funny stories for children just beginning to read. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-85116-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
Very young gardeners will need more information, but for certain picky eaters, the suggested strategy just might work.
A young spinach hater becomes a spinach lover after she has to grow her own in a class garden.
Unable to trade away the seed packet she gets from her teacher for tomatoes, cukes or anything else more palatable, Sylvia reluctantly plants and nurtures a pot of the despised veggie then transplants it outside in early spring. By the end of school, only the plot’s lettuce, radishes and spinach are actually ready to eat (talk about a badly designed class project!)—and Sylvia, once she nerves herself to take a nibble, discovers that the stuff is “not bad.” She brings home an armful and enjoys it from then on in every dish: “And that was the summer Sylvia Spivens said yes to spinach.” Raff uses unlined brushwork to give her simple cartoon illustrations a pleasantly freehand, airy look, and though Pryor skips over the (literally, for spinach) gritty details in both the story and an afterword, she does cover gardening basics in a simple and encouraging way.
Very young gardeners will need more information, but for certain picky eaters, the suggested strategy just might work. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9836615-1-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Readers to Eaters
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2012
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