by Jane Brocket & photographed by Jane Brocket ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2012
This just doesn’t stand up to geometrical scrutiny.
The Clever Concepts series gets a new entry that teaches readers about two- and three-dimensional shapes.
As with previous titles, brilliant color photographs provide children with examples of the concepts being presented, all of them emphasizing that shapes are all around us, waiting to be discovered. The first of two loose sections looks at “flat” shapes—circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, triangles, diamonds, and a brief mention of pentagons, hexagons and octagons—the second at “solid” shapes—spheres, cylinders, cubes, cones, rings and eggs. But this latest entry has some troubling problems. While the author uses good vocabulary in some areas, in others, she oversimplifies—for example, never using the terms 2-D or 3-D—or provides what could be described as half-definitions: A sphere is a “solid circle,” while a cylinder “has circles at each end and straight sides in between.” In at least one case, vocabulary is erroneous: A life-saving ring in a picture is called a life jacket within the text. Furthermore, her pictures are not always the best examples. Bricks are great rectangles, but the pattern depicted shows three bricks stuck together, which make a square. She also says that “chocolate candies are all spheres,” showing a cake decorated with spherical candies, but also with M&M’s and chocolate discs, which are hardly spheres.
This just doesn’t stand up to geometrical scrutiny. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7613-4611-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
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by Kimberly Wilson ; illustrated by Mark Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 5, 2022
Combining a dash of math with buckets of good humor, this book is certainly like money in the bank.
A newly minted penny searches for meaning.
“Hot off the minting press, Penny sparkled,” the story begins, but her initial gusto turns to sorrow when it becomes clear that the world only sees her as a lowly cent, fit to be ignored. As she is jostled about by the tide of circumstance, she meets various coins and types of paper who enlighten her on the ways of the world. Sticking out of an open purse, Bill Bill, a $1 note cowpoke, cautions her that “it takes a hundred of you to do what I do.” In a video game arcade, Quarter coolly explains that “slot surfin’ is quarters-only. You’re twenty-four cents short.” In a sweet shop, donnish Dime subjects Penny to a cogent history lesson about inflation’s effects on so-called “penny candy.” Nickel, a morose street coin with beard stubble, turns down her offer to pair up. Penny hits a low point when she encounters an alarming newspaper headline: “THE GREAT PENNY DEBATE: ARE THEY WORTHLESS?” Thankfully, her fortunes shift upon meeting another penny who encourages her (“Heads up…we’re good luck when we put our best face forward!”) and leads her to the one place where she and her kind are truly valued. Filled with clever and chucklesome wordplay, Wilson’s spry narrative is engaging but also educational, providing a solid, accessible introduction to basic money equivalents. Hoffmann’s illustrations, rendered in acrylic, colored pencil, and pan pastel with digital touches, incorporate comicslike sound effects and nimbly extend the text with comedic touches.
Combining a dash of math with buckets of good humor, this book is certainly like money in the bank. (facts, author’s note, chart, bibliography) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64567-468-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
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by Kimberly Wilson ; illustrated by Mark Hoffmann
by Andrea Tsurumi ; illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 11, 2021
Whether in hand or on shelf, this one’s sure to make a splash anywhere and everywhere.
A frog tries to do everything a goat does, too.
Goat asks Frog to look at them before declaring “I’m ON it!” while balancing atop a tree stump near a pond. After an “Oooh!” and a “You know what?” Frog leaps off their lily pad to balance on a rock: “I’m on it, too!” Goat grabs a prop so that they can be both “on it AND beside it.” (It may take young readers a little bit to realize there are two its.) So does Frog. The competition continues as Frog struggles to mimic overconfident Goat’s antics. In addition to on and beside, the pair adds inside, between, under, and more. Eventually, it all gets to be too much for Frog to handle, so Frog falls into the water, resumes position on the lily pad, and declares “I am OVER it” while eating a fly. In an act of solidarity, Goat jumps in, too. In Tsurumi’s first foray into early readers she pares down her energetic, colorful cartoon style to the bare essentials without losing any of the madcap fun. Using fewer than 80 repeated words (over 12 of which are prepositions), the clever text instructs, delights, and revels in its own playfulness. Color-coded speech bubbles (orange for Goat, green for Frog) help match the dialogue with each speaker. Like others in the Elephant & Piggie Like Reading series, Elephant and Piggie metafictively bookend the main narrative with hilariously on-the-nose commentary.
Whether in hand or on shelf, this one’s sure to make a splash anywhere and everywhere. (Early reader. 4-8)Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-368-06696-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
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