This initial offering by developer Inkmation is a Saturday-morning-cartoon–inflected retelling of Aesop’s fable with minimal technical innovation. The hare is a bully as well as a braggart, dumping a bowl of spaghetti on the tortoise’s head and kicking away his soccer ball before the silent tortoise dares to speak up and challenge him to the storied race. The simplistic anthropomorphism parallels the unsophisticated, flat artwork. The creators valiantly attempt to offer a variety of touch-screen experiences within the 16 pages, but they fail to dazzle. There’s some automatic animation on half the pages, with further action dependent upon taps (a dash, a jump, a wave or image revealed) on most. Text appears at the bottom of the screen (which is in fixed portrait orientation), along with a centered home icon and right/left navigation arrows to side-shift pages (no fancy flipping here). In “read to me” mode, spoken words are not highlighted, and the “let me read” option does not provide on-the-spot narrative support when tapping words or swiping sentences, as in other apps. The music (a jaunty piano tune) can be turned on and off, as can sound effects (pops, boings, swishes and whistling wind). It ends with a survey asking for story suggestions and comments—perhaps these will yield other tales that are more successful as iPad apps. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)
Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Inkmation
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
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
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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