Curious and curiouser—and altogether a pleasure to experience.
A fuchsia-colored whatsit arrives to stay a year.
Alfie the cat, as cats will do, drags it into the house and drops it on the living room floor, looking smug. “It was cold, it was wet / it was trembling and hairy…. / Then it awoke, / GROWLING and SCARY.” The growl is something to behold, a great, loopy, multicolored scribble of lines. The three white kids brush it outside like a mouse, but the Creature finds a way back in each time; it’s snowing, for goodness sake. “By springtime the creature had settled in well,” eating cardboard, stinking things up, eating plastic, attracting flies, and, beguilingly, “During the night / it was out in the dark, / exploring the garden / or sometimes the park. / It was just in its nature, / it needed to roam….” The Creature crawls up into its mare’s nest of an upper bunk and goes to ground in autumn. On Christmas Eve, there are not one but two Creatures, who simply take their leave out the mail slot, not to be seen again (“but one day YOU might”). It’s a lovely salute to community, embracing even the stinkiest member—don’t even try to guess the Creatures’ species, not polecats, not skunks—with bonhomie. The artwork is a gripping mix of shadows and striking elements of color.
Curious and curiouser—and altogether a pleasure to experience. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-91095-914-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Otter-Barry
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A thoughtful, candid look at self-reflection.
Sometimes this sunflower seed can be just plain rotten!
The book’s self-professed scoundrel opens with a warning. “I’m a bad seed. / A baaaaaaaaaaad seed.” Even other seeds whisper in agreement: that’s one bad seed. What makes this seed so bad? Well, he’s always late and lies often. He stares and glares and never listens. He cuts in line all the time and never washes his hands or feet. And he does other horrible things too bad to list. Young readers (and some older ones as well) will chuckle at the list of misdeeds, then perhaps wonder whether they’re guilty of such baaaaaaaaaaad behavior themselves, but John aims for more fruitful ground. What makes a seed go bad? A tragic back story provides at least one reason for the badness. When the rogue seed decides “to be happy” by doing good, it’s not so hard to cheer for him. Loudly. The change may seem abrupt, although there is a sense that being good takes time. Throughout the story, Oswald’s digital, watercolor-infused illustrations keep the focus exclusively on the titular bad seed, depicting the world around him hilariously reacting to his misbehavior and using close-ups—sometimes extreme ones—for comical effect. Small moments of goodness appear that much more profound as a result.
A thoughtful, candid look at self-reflection. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-246776-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sweet, good-hearted fun.
A recovering curmudgeon narrates life lessons in the latest entry in the punny Food Group series.
Grape wasn’t always sour, as they explain in this origin story. Grape’s arc starts with an idyllic childhood within “a close-knit bunch” in a community of “about three thousand.” The sweet-to-sour switch begins when Grape plans an elaborate birthday party to which no one shows up. Going from “sweet” to “bitter,” “snappy,” and, finally, “sour,” Grape “scowled so much that my face got all squishy.” Minor grudges become major. An aha moment occurs when a run of bad luck makes Grape three hours late for a meetup with best friend Lenny, who’s just as acidic as Grape. After the irate lemon storms off, Grape recognizes their own behavior in Lenny. Alone, Grape begins to enjoy the charms of a lovely evening. Once home, the fruit browses through a box of memorabilia, discovering that the old birthday party invitation provided the wrong date! “I realized nobody’s perfect. Not even me.” Remaining pages reverse the downturn as Grape observes that minor setbacks are easily weathered when the emphasis is on talking, listening, and working things out. Oswald’s signature illustrations depict Grape and company with big eyes and tiny limbs. The best sight gag occurs early: Grape’s grandparents are depicted as elegant raisins. The lessons are as valuable as in previous outings, and kids won’t mind the slight preachiness. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sweet, good-hearted fun. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-304541-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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