An ordinary fairy tale (pie-baking princess locked in tall tower, knights must perform feats to win her hand from fat stepfather king) is made extraordinary as Ned, the illustrator, and an unnamed narrator attempt to get readers to slow down so they can finish the pictures. Unfortunately, readers are uncooperative. What results is a comedy worthy of Monty Python fans. Sir Wilbur’s first task is to slay a dragon . . . but Ned does not have the horses or armor ready, so he must ride a fish and wear a pink tutu—the only props available. One disaster follows another as readers refuse to follow the narrator’s directions, differentiated from the text by a font change. In the final showdown the snail-riding princess, who has rescued herself, leads an army of fish-riding, banana-wielding monkeys, the king rides out to greet her with an army of pickles and the beleaguered Ned finally quits. Martin’s illustrations are perfect, mixing the two simultaneous tales until their edges are indistinguishable. The spot-on renderings of Ned and the narrator’s facial expressions only add to the slapstick. Tremendously clever and hysterically funny. (Picture book. 4-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-689-86677-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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