Luminous illustrations, interesting backmatter, but a wordy, less-than-clear story.
A boy and a cave-dwelling beastie encounter each other in this bedtime story.
An early-elementary-age boy, tucked into bed for bedtime, asks his father (depicted, rather creepily, in silhouette) to tell him the story of the Stark. Ensuing illustrations erase any initial disquiet with their crisp luminosity, evocatively rendering the mystery and wonder of the titular cave as the story unfolds. The Stark (the father tells the boy) lives in the caves and hunts for treasure. The blue-furred Stark has a nonthreatening Sesame Street–monster look. An unnamed boy (with brown, freckled skin and red, Afro-textured hair, just like the listening child) shows up to go caving, and when he sees the Stark, the boy says, “Shoo!” The wordy, somewhat disorganized text revolves around the boy exploring the cave and saying “shoo,” to the Stark. One night the Stark, deliberately or accidentally (it’s not clear), gives the boy a “stone pearl,” and the boy realizes the Stark means him no harm. The boy then sews a stuffed Stark “baby” and leaves it for the Stark to find. While the story itself doesn’t captivate, the backmatter, “Cave Facts,” does. It explains some of the cave phenomena mentioned but not clarified (“cave pearls,” “walrus whiskers”) in the story’s body and adds depth and interest.
Luminous illustrations, interesting backmatter, but a wordy, less-than-clear story. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-943431-51-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tumblehome Learning
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy.
Robo-parents Diode and Lugnut present daughter Cathode with a new little brother—who requires, unfortunately, some assembly.
Arriving in pieces from some mechanistic version of Ikea, little Flange turns out to be a cute but complicated tyke who immediately falls apart…and then rockets uncontrollably about the room after an overconfident uncle tinkers with his basic design. As a squad of helpline techies and bevies of neighbors bearing sludge cake and like treats roll in, the cluttered and increasingly crowded scene deteriorates into madcap chaos—until at last Cath, with help from Roomba-like robodog Sprocket, stages an intervention by whisking the hapless new arrival off to a backyard workshop for a proper assembly and software update. “You’re such a good big sister!” warbles her frazzled mom. Wiesner’s robots display his characteristic clean lines and even hues but endearingly look like vaguely anthropomorphic piles of random jet-engine parts and old vacuum cleaners loosely connected by joints of armored cable. They roll hither and thither through neatly squared-off panels and pages in infectiously comical dismay. Even the end’s domestic tranquility lasts only until Cathode spots the little box buried in the bigger one’s packing material: “TWINS!” (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52% of actual size.)
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-544-98731-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
A delightful story of a cross-racial friendship between two kids who realize how much they need each other and the passions...
STEM becomes STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) as Melia, an inventor, and Jo, a dancer, discover that they’re a dynamic team.
Melia loves to invent things and tinker all day long in her backyard. Then Jo moves in next door and dances her way into Melia’s inventing space. With total disregard for the sanctity of Melia’s creations, Jo flips Melia’s cereal-bowl radio onto her head to wear it as a hat, sticks a rope of black licorice into the neck of an unfinished robot, and chucks a paper airplane—that Melia is still designing—into the air. Although she’s miffed at Jo’s invasion of her space, Melia realizes that Jo has inadvertently solved some puzzling conundrums. When Melia shows Jo what a difference she has made, Jo refuses to partner with Melia…until one of Melia’s inventions saves her. Their contrasting personalities are effectively delineated in the retro-styled illustrations: Brown-skinned Jo wears a pinky-purple tutu, a pearl necklace, and feathers in her hair; blonde-haired, peachy-skinned Melia wears shorts and an orange cape and boots. The backmatter provides instructions for how to make Melia’s paper airplane and explains the benefits of turning STEM into STEAM.
A delightful story of a cross-racial friendship between two kids who realize how much they need each other and the passions that each brings to the friendship. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-328-91626-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
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