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WHAT UNDERWEAR DOES A ZEBRA WEAR?

JOKES FOR KIDS

This illustrated collection gives novice joke tellers—and their parents—some excellent puns to draw from.

Awards & Accolades

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A debut picture book delivers jokes for the preschool crowd.

Finding jokes that are both funny and make sense to younger readers can be a challenge. But Henley Belle Johnson—with help from her mother and editor, Elle Muliarchyk Johnson, and debut illustrator Dalbuz—captures that balance perfectly here. The title joke uses a pun on the animal’s name, linking it to a sound-alike article of clothing (“A Z-BRA!”). The majority of the jokes in the collection begin with an animal, using the creature’s name (or the sound it makes) to complete a pun in the punchline. The clever way of playing with sounds makes the jokes accessible to younger readers. Helpful, color-printed portions of dinosaur names are especially useful in offering pronunciation clues to young listeners trying to guess the answers to the questions posed. One Spanish joke—“What does grass say to the gardener who waters it? GRASS-ias!”—shows readers that plays on words are not limited to English. Dalbuz’s brightly colored cartoon images are silly fun and will keep youngsters who can’t yet read giggling even if they don’t guess the punchlines. While the majority of the humans featured in the book have pale skin, one young joke teller and another background character are people of color. The animals, particularly the dinosaurs, are far more diverse.

This illustrated collection gives novice joke tellers—and their parents—some excellent puns to draw from.

Pub Date: July 10, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-692-12425-3

Page Count: 34

Publisher: Time Tunnel Media

Review Posted Online: July 12, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019

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TALES FOR VERY PICKY EATERS

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

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CINDERELLA

From the Once Upon a World series

A nice but not requisite purchase.

A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.

Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.

A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017

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