An optional purchase that can be used effectively in groups in schools or libraries.
What do tigers like to do at dinner parties?
A cautious mouse is getting ready to entertain a tiger and thinks that the key to its success is in a book entitled: How to Impress a Tiger. The mouse feels quite prepared, in spite of some early nervousness, and it puts a record on the turntable (wait—have young readers seen this device before?), mixes punch, and festoons its home with party decorations. When the tiger enters, the mouse roars, thinking “ ‘Rooooaaaarrrr!’ means ‘hello,’ ” and does as the book suggests: “When you say ‘Hello,’ put your hands up like claws and show your teeth. That is the polite greeting.” Unfortunately, the friendly tiger at the door is quite scared and screams in large letters: “AHHHHHHH!” She’s ready to turn tail, but the mouse immediately works to save the situation, consulting the manual once again and finding that now, somehow, the advice is just the opposite. The diligent host has been correct about the peanut-butter sandwiches but soon learns as well that greeting the tiger nicely and giving her the chance to play checkers and wear a polka-dot party hat will make her your friend for life. Heavy black outlines and flat blocks of color show off the mouse’s cozy home to advantage in what look like digital illustrations. The book’s tongue-in-cheek premise provides read-aloud fun and opportunities for some good roars.
An optional purchase that can be used effectively in groups in schools or libraries. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: April 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-256829-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too many bugs, figuratively.
Lucy, “the youngest member of a family of fireflies,” must overcome an irrational, moon-induced anxiety in order to leave her family tree trunk and glow.
The first six pages pull readers into a lush, beautiful world of nighttime: “When the sun has set, silence falls over the Big Forest, and all of the nighttime animals wake up.” Mixed media provide an enchanting forest background, with stylized flora and fauna eventually illuminated by a large, benign moon, because the night “doesn’t like to catch them by surprise.” Turning the page catches readers by surprise, though: the family of fireflies is decidedly comical and silly-looking. Similarly, the text moves from a lulling, magical cadence to a distinct shift in mood as the bugs ready themselves for their foray into the night: “They wave their bottoms in the air, wiggle their feelers, take a deep, deep breath, and sing, ‘Here we go, it’s time to glow!’ ” It’s an acceptable change, but more unevenness follows. Lucy’s excitement about finally joining the other bugs turns to “sobbing” two nights in a row. Instead of directly linking her behavior to understandable reactions of children to newness, the text undermines itself by making Lucy’s parents’ sweet reassurances impotent and using the grandmother’s scientific explanation of moonlight as an unnecessary metaphor. Further detracting from the story, the text becomes ever denser and more complex over the book’s short span.
Too many bugs, figuratively. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-84-16147-00-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
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