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 sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale.
The classic picture book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets a makeover for Easter as the letters of the alphabet locate and decorate eggs.
The mission is simple: “Chicka chicka peek peek. / Everybody seek seek! / Find all the eggs / in the pretty pink tree.” The letters are making their way up the flowering tree in search of the hidden eggs when a “SNEEZE!” scatters everyone and the eggs fall and crack. Luckily, a bunny hops by with a haul of new ones, which the letters then paint and bedazzle, eventually sharing the newly decorated eggs with a group of bunnies. This picture book is a successfully Easter-fied version of the original: The letters go up; the letters fall down. Truly, though, that’s all the preschool crowd needs. Chung’s illustrations are simple and familiar, a direct echo of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The letters appear in colorful, bold, block form. The book has few added details, just focal images like the tree and its pink flowers, the colorful eggs, tufts of grass, and some friendly rabbits. The alphabet appears in order (both upper- and lowercase letters) at the book’s open and close. The rhyming text follows the iconic cadence of the source material, making for a worthy read-aloud that will keep little hands turning pages.
A sweet, springtime-themed reworking of a beloved tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9781665990646
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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