A tidy showcase for Lo Monaco, with at least some potential for return visits.
A cavalcade of diminutive, neatly designed pop-ups evokes toys of yesteryear.
Each of the 10 moderately antique playthings, which range from a gas station to a doll in a wheeled cradle, takes center stage in a minimally detailed setting printed on stiff paper stock and designed to open to a right angle. Some figures recur, such as a toy sailor who poses next to a sailboat and again on the trailer bed of a big truck, but mostly the tableaux stand alone: there’s an elephant on a wheeled platform, a firetruck, and a tractor hauling a sow dubbed “Stendahl” on a cart. Two loggers pull a saw back and forth a half inch or so in the only construction with a moving element. Along with sound effects, a child narrator seen just once and notable more for her enthusiasm than for natural language offers short scenarios—the sailor above is “an exceptional load!” for instance, and the “mechanical boat” sparks a planned outing: “On Thursday, I will go to the pond with mom and see it navigate.” The perspective pulls back for a capping bedroom scene featuring an open wardrobe and toys scattered on the floor. “What a mess. I took everything out to play! I’ll clean up my room tomorrow. Good night, my toys.”
A tidy showcase for Lo Monaco, with at least some potential for return visits. (Pop-up picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-3-89955-746-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Gestalten
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Loewen’s story is a simple snapshot of kindergarten graduation day, and it stays true to form, with Yoshikawa’s artwork resembling photos that might be placed in an album—and the illustrations cheer, a mixed media of saturated color, remarkable depth and joyful expression. The author comfortably captures the hesitations of making the jump from kindergarten to first grade without making a fuss about it, and she makes the prospect something worth the effort. Trepidation aside, this is a reminder of how much fun kindergarten was: your own cubbyhole, the Halloween parade, losing a tooth, “the last time we’ll ever sit criss-cross applesauce together.” But there is also the fledgling’s pleasure at shucking off the past—swabbing the desks, tossing out the stubbiest crayons, taking the pictures off the wall—and surging into the future. Then there is graduation itself: donning the mortarboards, trooping into the auditorium—“Mr. Meyer starts playing a serious song on the piano. It makes me want to cry. It makes me want to march”—which will likely have a few adult readers feeling the same. (Picture book. 4-5)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5807-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
This long-running British series (the first Little Princess book was published in 1986) has been adapted for television there. In this installment, her dad (in a jacket and tie, wearing his crown) has read her a story and is about to turn off the light when the Little Princess shouts, “I WANT MY LIGHT ON!”—with her entire face subsumed into one of those scarlet, tooth-edged mouths. She’s not afraid of the dark but of ghosts. Dad checks under the bed, and General, Admiral, Doctor and Maid assure her there are no ghosts. The Little Princess’s room is a bright yellow, but readers see glimpses of the castle’s arches and stone steps past her doorway—and then there is a little ghost behind her bedpost, with a skeleton toy the shape of Little Princess’s own stuffie. Ghost and Princess scare each other, and he dashes off to his mother, who, as she stirs her pot of frog, worm and spider stew, assures him that there are no such things as little girls.... The pictures are clear, bold and exaggerated to great humorous effect. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7613-6443-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Andersen Press USA
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 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.
bookshelf
