This slapstick farce bounces along in rollicking rhyme accompanied by exaggerated cartoon-style illustrations featuring round-cheeked, wide-eyed characters sporting skinny extremities and outsized feet. The plot is simple: Four bored kids perk up a hot summer day by spitting watermelon seeds at one another. The action escalates when they take their battle to the village square and others get involved. The stern mayor’s appearance threatens to shut down the fun until she suddenly picks up a cream pie and lets it fly. Manders’s style suits the brisk text, which uses occasional typeface changes to enhance the rhythm. Although the farmer’s rattletrap truck and the idyllic village setting suggest an earlier time, the backwards cap on Peter’s head and a reference to “dudes in business suits” set the story squarely in the present. Light as a pie and sweet as melon, this slight story should find an enthusiastic audience with parents and grandparents nostalgic for a simpler, sillier time, who will enjoy sharing the fun with young listeners. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: June 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-670-06309-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2008
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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Today Carmelita visits her Abuela Rosa, but to get there she must walk. Down Ninth Avenue she strolls with her mother and dog. Colorful shops and congenial neighbors greet them along the way, and at each stop Carmelita says hello—in Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew and more. With a friendly “Jambo” for Joseph, a “Bonjour” at the bakery and an affectionate “Hey” for Max and Angel, the pig-tailed girl happily exercises her burgeoning multilingual skills. Her world is a vibrant community, where neighborliness, camaraderie and culture are celebrated. Isadora’s collaged artwork, reminiscent of Ezra Jack Keats, contains lovely edges and imperfections, which abet the feeling of an urban environment. Skillfully, she draws with her scissors, the cut-paper elements acting as her line work. Everything has a texture and surface, and with almost no solid colors, the city street is realized as a real, organic place. Readers will fall for the sociable Carmelita as they proudly learn a range of salutations, and the artist’s rich environment, packed with hidden details and charming animals, will delight readers with each return visit. Simply enchanting. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: April 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-399-25230-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2010
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dim sum is the perfect tea party for children because of the tasty, small dishes on teacarts from which to choose. Here, a little girl narrates a simple story of the delicious meal she shares with her family. Turnip cakes, fried shrimp, sweet pork buns, and sweet tofu are all chosen, and lastly, the narrator selects egg tarts. As each child selects from a cart, the perspective changes to focus on the chooser. The bright red restaurant rug is the background color for every page, setting off the silver carts with their goodies and the bright, patterned colors of the people’s clothes. The yellow letters of the text at times curve to match the tables in the picture or appear a little off to the side so as not to interfere with the visual image. One particularly effective spread steps back and shows a half-dozen tables all filled with little dishes and the silver carts wending their way through them; the pattern is delightful. A history of the origins of dim sum and its popularity today is described in an epilogue. The bright green endpapers are decorated at the front with food, condiments, and tableware while the back endpapers depict almost two dozen dim sum dishes. A delightful read-aloud, sure to please those children who have enjoyed dim sum and a fascinating adventure for those who have yet to experience it. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: July 10, 2001
ISBN: 978-0-440-41770-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2001
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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