A picture book that will be embraced due to its successful handling of difficult themes.
A cautionary tale about the futility of war by the late American humorist receives a stunning visual interpretation from Yoon.
Violent chaos ensues when the eponymous tiger awakens one day and decides to challenge Leo the lion for the title “king of beasts.” The lion is unwilling to give up his power without a fight, which quickly involves every creature in the jungle. A wordless double gatefold at the center of the book shows various animals in the throes of aggressive action, while subsequent text explains that the animals are not certain about what they’re fighting for. The futility of war and the perils of a lust for power are the obvious messages here, but there’s a darkly humorous tone in the characterizations of both tiger and lion that undercuts potential for dull preaching. Furthermore, Thurber delivers a straightforward moral when all but the tiger die in the war: “You can’t very well be king of beasts if there aren’t any,” which overtly embraces and projects the intended meaning of his story. Yoon’s artistic achievement, however, is the king of this picture book’s triumphs. The limited palette of orange, green, white, and dark brown creates visually arresting spreads that fairly vibrate with energy despite the flat, print-inspired aesthetic.
A picture book that will be embraced due to its successful handling of difficult themes. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-59270-182-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
A sumptuously illustrated Jazz Age Cinderella story.
In author-illustrator Sheckels’ picture book, a maid at a grand hotel dreams of watching her favorite band perform.
In a world of genteel, anthropomorphized animals, Flora, a ferret, works as a scullery maid in a ritzy, three-story hotel. Scouring and scrubbing in her blue dress and apron, Flora hums along to the music in her heart, hoping that one day she’ll save enough pennies to attend a concert. When her favorite band, the Jazzers, is booked to play at the hotel, Flora desperately wants to watch them perform. The hotel manager, a snobbish fox, turns her away—but then the Jazzers themselves hear her humming outside their room. They’re in need of a vocalist, so they invite her to be their guest soloist, and then to join them permanently. Sheckels tells Flora’s story in straightforward, unrhymed prose, allowing the characters to take center stage without distraction; Flora is easily identifiable as a Cinderella archetype. The lush, hand-painted illustrations are whimsical in the tradition of Beatrix Potter, Inga Moore, and Jill Barklem, capture an Edwardian opulence as well as the grittier circumstances of those whose labors maintained such opulence. The Jazzers, consisting of waistcoated racoon (double bass), skunk (drums), rabbit (piano), and possum (saxophone), evoke a time when free-spirited bohemianism aimed to challenge class barriers.
A sumptuously illustrated Jazz Age Cinderella story.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393187
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A rollicking tale of rivalry.
Sweet Street had just one baker, Monsieur Oliphant, until two new confectionists move in, bringing a sugar rush of competition and customers.
First comes “Cookie Concocter par excellence” Mademoiselle Fee and then a pie maker, who opens “the divine Patisserie Clotilde!” With each new arrival to Sweet Street, rivalries mount and lines of hungry treat lovers lengthen. Children will delight in thinking about an abundance of gingerbread cookies, teetering, towering cakes, and blackbird pies. Wonderfully eccentric line-and-watercolor illustrations (with whites and marbled pastels like frosting) appeal too. Fine linework lends specificity to an off-kilter world in which buildings tilt at wacky angles and odd-looking (exclusively pale) people walk about, their pantaloons, ruffles, long torsos, and twiglike arms, legs, and fingers distinguishing them as wonderfully idiosyncratic. Rotund Monsieur Oliphant’s periwinkle complexion, flapping ears, and elongated nose make him look remarkably like an elephant while the women confectionists appear clownlike, with exaggerated lips, extravagantly lashed eyes, and voluminous clothes. French idioms surface intermittently, adding a certain je ne sais quoi. Embedded rhymes contribute to a bouncing, playful narrative too: “He layered them and cherried them and married people on them.” Tension builds as the cul de sac grows more congested with sweet-makers, competition, frustration, and customers. When the inevitable, fantastically messy food fight occurs, an observant child finds a sweet solution amid the delicious detritus.
A rollicking tale of rivalry. (Picture book. 4-8 )Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-101-91885-2
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
