Fine for a metafictive read-aloud but not so great as science.
The world’s ugliest animal speaks up.
In the tradition of Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky's Moose and David Ezra Stein’s Interrupting Chicken, Blobfish takes over a book about deep-sea creatures, inserting itself into every page. A straightforward text about deep-sea life, a sentence or two set on a background of photographs, is interrupted on every double-page spread by an impatient cartoon blobfish and its own commentary. When its photograph finally appears, the text notes that it “was once voted the world’s ugliest.” Naturally, its feelings are hurt. At this point, the other animals—viperfish, jellyfish, jewel squid, anglerfish, blenny fish, giant spider crab, and northern stoplight loosejaw—acquire speech bubbles too, banding together to make their own crayoned page with a message of support. The humor is grand, the informational value modest. Olien has juxtaposed creatures that may live far apart in real life. On a diagram of ocean zones (with only English measurements), Blobfish points to the 13,000-foot line between the bathypelagic and abyssopelagic zone to show where he lives “in the deep, deep part”; since there is yet another zone below 20,000 feet, readers will wonder exactly what “deep, deep” means. Moreover, in truth, blobfish seem to live around 2,000-4,000 feet down. They also probably look quite different at their proper depth; the photo in the book was taken at the surface. Further facts and suggestions for websites to explore are added in the backmatter.
Fine for a metafictive read-aloud but not so great as science. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 31, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-239415-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers will agree: All differences should be hugged, er, embraced.
Watch out, Hug Machine (Scott Campbell, 2014), there’s another long-limbed lover of squeezes in the mix.
Bernard, a tiny, lavender bird, dejectedly sits atop a high branch. His wings droop all the way to the ground. Heaving a sigh, his disappointment is palpable. With insufferably long wings, he has never been able to fly. All of his friends easily took to the skies, leaving him behind. There is nothing left to do but sit in his tree and feel sorry for himself. Adamson amusingly shows readers the passage of time with a sequence of vignettes of Bernard sitting in the rain, the dark, and amid a cloud of paper wasps—never moving from his branch. Then one day he hears a sob and finds a tearful orangutan. Without even thinking, Bernard wraps his long wings around the great ape. The orangutan is comforted! Bernard has finally found the best use of his wings. In gentle watercolor and pencil sketches, Adamson slips in many moments of humor. Animals come from all over to tell Bernard their troubles (a lion muses that it is “lonely at the top of the food chain” while a bat worries about missing out on fun during the day). Three vertical spreads that necessitate a 90-degree rotation add to the fun.
Readers will agree: All differences should be hugged, er, embraced. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5420-9271-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sure to “net” young audiences, who will definitely root for the birds.
A peace-waging parable, presented with wry minimalism à la Jon Klassen or Tomi Ungerer.
Carrying nets, three hunters creep up on a sleeping bird in a dark forest, but thanks to their own clumsiness, they repeatedly manage to get in one another’s way as the bird slips off. Meanwhile, despite their frantic shushing, a smaller, fourth figure waves and calls out “hello birdie,” offering bread. Soon, an entire flock has gathered around number four’s feet—a flock that proceeds to turn and chase the hunters away. The text runs to just a few words per page, but it neatly serves to crank up the suspense: “ready one / ready two / ready three… // GO!” Haughton (Oh No, George!, 2012) uses a palette of deep blues and purples for his simple forest scenes; this causes the hunters’ googly eyes to stand out comically and also makes the fuchsia, red and orange birds easy to spot and follow. Last seen creeping up on a squirrel, the hunters have plainly learned nothing from their experience…but young readers might.
Sure to “net” young audiences, who will definitely root for the birds. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7293-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
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