With wry good humor, Lizzy recounts the activities of her day to her mother. Although an unusual event occurs at the core of Lizzy’s day—her best friend moves away—Lizzy’s trials and tribulations will be comically familiar to readers. Waking up late, wearing unmatched socks, waiting in the rain for the school bus, dealing with the class clown, spelling tests, and the like are the minutiae that make up a grade-schooler’s life. Harper neatly captures the exasperation and exaggerated nuances of a precocious young girl’s speech. With Lizzy’s tone on target, Harper also keeps the tale perking along nicely with rhyming couplets setting a lively pace. Rather than extraordinary, Lizzy’s tale is comfortingly familiar, reminding readers that everyone has their ups and downs. DuPont’s illustrations, rendered in an array of bright hues, energetically mirror the tenor of the tale, capturing readers’ attention. Her ever-expressive drawings of Lizzy artfully convey her spunk and charm. Harper’s droll tale is the perfect antidote to school-day blues and a great follow-up to Lizzie’s Do’s and Don’ts (2002). (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-06-052063-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
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