Unreal, occasionally surreal, these deeply fractured fairy tales feature doggy characters pawing through such stories as “Jack Russell and the Beanstalk” and “Rapawnzul.” Terrible puns tickle the text, and two supercilious cats, drawn only in black-and- white, make rude comments from the margins. Vividly colored and wildly exaggerated canines and humans populate the improbable illustrations, where the princess climbs to the top of her 20 mattresses on a ladder that is adorned with cowboy-boot feet (the story involves a Pekinese rather than a pea) and where Cindersmelly is rescued from stinkiness by a vacuum-cleaner salesman. The “Doberman’s New Clothes” explains why dogs don’t wear any, and the lead in “Little Red Riding Hound” outsmarts not a wolf, but a cat. There is only one punchline here, and children can probably handle the irony and camp, but will they want to? (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-58246-011-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tricycle
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-292858-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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