by Jen Campbell ; illustrated by Katie Harnett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 6, 2018
Vibrant and sweet.
A search for long-lost family sends best friends into outer space…and beyond!
Luna loves nothing more than to read adventure stories “all night long, curled up with her tortoise, Neil Armstrong.” Her best friend, Franklin, who happens to be a large green dragon, also loves to read. The two of them have read about all kinds of fantastical creatures, and now they want to explore all the places they’ve read about. They’ll start by searching for Franklin’s family; he’s 605 and has never met any of them. They don’t know where to look, so they go just about everywhere, meeting nymphs and pixies and vampires and scores of other creatures. Then Luna spots something interesting far away in the sky. She tickles Franklin’s nose and he sneezes a blue flame, sending them impossibly high in the air. Suddenly Franklin remembers this place; he’s from the moon. They land, and dozens of silver dragons come out to greet them. They all sing songs and share stories until it’s time for Luna and Franklin to go back home. Campbell endearingly captures the excitement of reading, but her text unfolds in a stutter-step rhyme scheme that may pose a challenge to those reading aloud. Hartnett’s dreamy illustrations are full of soft shapes and warm colors, depicting Luna as white with a diverse background cast.
Vibrant and sweet. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-500-65146-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
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SEEN & HEARD
by George Shannon ; illustrated by Blanca Gómez ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 26, 2015
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts.
A playful counting book also acts as a celebration of family and human diversity.
Shannon’s text is delivered in spare, rhythmic, lilting verse that begins with one and counts up to 10 as it presents different groupings of things and people in individual families, always emphasizing the unitary nature of each combination. “One is six. One line of laundry. One butterfly’s legs. One family.” Gomez’s richly colored pictures clarify and expand on all that the text lists: For “six,” a picture showing six members of a multigenerational family of color includes a line of laundry with six items hanging from it outside of their windows, as well as the painting of a six-legged butterfly that a child in the family is creating. While text never directs the art to depict diverse individuals and family constellations, Gomez does just this in her illustrations. Interracial families are included, as are depictions of men with their arms around each other, and a Sikh man wearing a turban. This inclusive spirit supports the text’s culminating assertion that “One is one and everyone. One earth. One world. One family.”
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-30003-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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