Bland, empty calories.
True friends are always there to help you pick up the pieces—and the baked goods.
Told in rhyming couplets, the story follows a bumblebee baker and her fleet of ladybug assistants as they prepare their daily treats for a waiting line of pseudo-Victorian insect customers. Alas, tragedy strikes when the ladybugs scent a “fragrant breeze” and swarm off, leaving the kitchen in disarray and a tearoom full of waiting customers. Discovering their flight, the baker is left stunned, and it’s up to her ant customers to save the day. The message of friendship to the rescue is slightly undercut by the baker’s paralysis during her own crisis and her reliance on others to solve her problems. The rhyme scheme is fair, if somewhat singsong-y in its cadence. A scattering of couplets suffer from either illogical phrasing given the visual context (“While sugar drifts like softest snow / Atop her puffy hat below”—the hat is pictured on her head and not obviously below anything) or lazy rhymes (“Cricket sounds the call to action / setting off an ant reaction”). The illustrations, oil under crackling varnish, are of a muted pastel hue with pops of brighter warm colors. The combination creates a dated vibe reminiscent of the early 1990s. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9.8-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 73% of actual size.)
Bland, empty calories. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64686-070-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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