A good choice for telling, a poor one for showing.
Unbridled greed really puts the squeeze on the rotund trickster in this tale from Ghana.
The telling is a lively one, the illustrations dismal failures. As Anansi goes “walking, walking, walking. Woo!” he catches the scent of yams cooking in one village, chicken and rice in another, beans in a third, and other feasts. “Oh—I’m gon eat good today. Yes. Oh—I’m gon to eat good.” At each stop he ties a string around his waist and tells the villagers to pull when the food’s ready. Unfortunately, when all the strings are pulled at once, not only is Anansi unable to move in any direction, his waist gets squeezed down to the thinness that all spiders still exhibit. Arrington sandwiches her tale between wordy explanations and doesn’t offer a source note. But she uses repetition and cadence to lend her version a robust, distinctly oral character…and if the “Anansi Approved Recipes” for candied yams with marshmallows and for baked beans with barbecue sauce at the end aren’t exactly West African in origin, they’re still yummy. Allin, on the other hand, portrays Anansi with brown fur and anthropomorphic features, including a head and a neck. Moreover, perplexingly, all the villagers are cast as unclothed African animals living in stereotypical grass huts.
A good choice for telling, a poor one for showing. (Picture book/folk tale. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4556-2216-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An absolute pleasure.
A small dog takes a huge leap.
True to her name, sled dog puppy Leap spends her days bounding happily through blankets of freshly fallen snow, bouncily biding her time until she, too, can suit up for a run with the team. Each dog brings a different, equally essential skill to the work of mushing, and as too-young Leap greets the pack when they return from their daily hike, she worries—what if she lacks a special talent of her own when it’s her time to race? But when the much-anticipated day arrives and Leap clips in for her rookie run, her feet tippity-tap excitedly, any trace of self-doubt eclipsed by her irrepressible enthusiasm. With their new addition in tow, the other dogs take off, buoyed as ever by a confidence borne from specialized expertise; they confront obstacles head-on, sailing easily along icy Northwoods terrain. That is until the team encounters a seemingly insurmountable hurdle, one that only their greenest member can clear. Dogsled racer Braverman’s sweet narrative builds a satisfying case for individuality as a community asset, celebrating both the value of teamwork and the discrete strengths that comprise it. Savvy readers will take pride in predicting Leap’s unique contribution, while canine lovers will delight in the revelation that the pups depicted are all real-life sled dogs working in northern Wisconsin. When’s illustrations are equal parts spellbinding and precious, deftly balancing compositional simplicity with masterful color work. The result is peerless.
An absolute pleasure. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780063238053
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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