by Henrik Van Ryzin & Denise Van Ryzin & developed by Monster Costume ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A
Bartleby is a lover of buttons, switches, knobs and dials, and the first volume of his iPad adventures details his trip to Mystery Island. Less a straight-ahead storybook than a combination of story and interactive puzzles, each page includes lighted buttons to press, keys and cranks to fiddle with. The not-terribly-difficult brain teasers that employ these tools are used to advance the story and unlock each new page. There’s no voiced narration but plenty of sound effects. Bartleby’s world is as retro as the bowler-hat-wearing hero; his gadgets are more mechanical than digital and his quaint surroundings wouldn’t look out of place in a cartoon from the 1940s (perhaps he’s related to Georges Rémi’s Tintin; he bears a resemblance). For children who’d rather tinker than be read to, Bartleby may be the perfect companion. At eight story pages, his first outing seems like a voyage cut short, but it’s a memorable one. It’s remarkably different in look, tone and structure from most story apps, a true original in an App Store filled with cartoon tie-ins, princess programming and retrofitted children’s classics. (iPad storybook/puzzle app. 4-10)
Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2010
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BOOK REVIEW
by Henrik Van Ryzin & Denise Van Ryzin & developed by Monster Costume
by Loren Long & illustrated by Loren Long ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2009
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
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More About This Book
SEEN & HEARD
by Adam Wallace ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2017
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton
by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton
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by Adam Wallace ; illustrated by Christopher Nielsen
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by Adam Wallace ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton
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by Adam Wallace ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton
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