A humorous story with over-the-top morals, uneven rhyme schemes, and comic illustrations.
A magical creature punishes rampaging students in this third installment of a picture book series.
Classrooms are a fantastic place to learn—unless they’re in Brat School. There, Fong (BetterNot! And the Tale of Brat Sports, 2016, etc.) depicts a teacher hiding behind his desk and biting his nails, the word HELP! written across the chalkboard, while his students run amok. When the principal warns the pupils they better change their ways or BetterNot will arrive, they tie a rocket to his feet and send him soaring. Unsurprisingly, the threatened BetterNot, resembling a genie crossed with a wraith, appears in a purple fog to set the kids on the right track. For each appropriately named child, there’s a matching punishment. Cass Clown is stuck in clown makeup in a painting like Munch’s The Scream while Ira is transported to Mars for interrupting before the teacher explains the red planet has no air. Some young readers will find BetterNot’s punishments appropriate while others will likely wonder if poor Ira died before learning his lesson or if Andy Disbeliever survived the aquarium tank he’d doubted was wet. Though Del Vecchio’s (BetterNot! And the Tale of Brat Sports, 2016, etc.) text rhymes, the meter is all over the place. Fong’s amusing images showcase BetterNot’s whimsical acts and dark sense of justice while showing a diverse cast of misbehavers and teachers.
A humorous story with over-the-top morals, uneven rhyme schemes, and comic illustrations.Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-692-93150-9
Page Count: 36
Publisher: BetterNot Enterprises
Review Posted Online: Dec. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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