A good, entry-level app, gratifyingly easy if also easy to move beyond.
An elemental story of a forgetful witch.
Heckerty is a frightful witch. Not in terms of behavior but...let us be honest, it’s her face. All those spots and warts, and her Brillo-pad hair doesn’t help. Today, however, she has to have a photo taken for her passport, and she is in close consultation with her cat, Zanzibar, about a spell to make her presentable. Her spell book has gone missing, so she has to wing it, which is a big mistake. But really, what’s wrong with a green face full of spots and warts when Heckerty is such a sympathetic creature? Not to mention that readers can paint her face blue, purple or a dozen other colors, along with her hands, coat, shoes or socks. Kids can read along or alone or use the book simply for coloring purposes. The vocabulary sometimes outruns the target group—“Zanzibar,” for one, and “lizard” and “cauldron”—but those are good words for children to look forward to. The joy here is in the interaction. The colors are saturated, and there are many little creatures to let loose and run about, plus wiggling ears, rolling eyes and floppy heads. There is enough variety here to give the story some lasting power, but not great quantities of it.
A good, entry-level app, gratifyingly easy if also easy to move beyond. (iPad storybook app. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Broomstick Productions Inc.
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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