A tartan twist on an old standard with plenty of humor both visual and verbal.
Everyone knows about King Midas’ golden touch, but what about Madison Pratt’s tartan touch?
When Madison picks up a plaid purse in the park, “Her fingers tingled. / Her thumbs were hot. / Her arm started twitching and itching a lot. / Then the plaid from the purse crept slowly up her sleeve” and eventually covers all her clothing. Madison even weeps plaid tears at her plaid predicament. Her mother, a nurse, consults How To Cure a Plaid Curse, of course. Madison tries to comply with the remedy, but “a little plaid burp escaped her lips,” and giggleworthy cartoon illustrations of plaid houses, cars, trees, poodles, and even squirrels capture the “plaid germ” spreading throughout the town. Madison races to the park to find the purse again so they can “reverse the plaidening curse!” Turning the purse inside out to hide the plaid reveals a “sad shade of blue,” which infects Madison, the town, and the illustrations with the blues. But luckily, Madison knows how to “cure the blues”: by singing “an extra-silly round of ‘Piddly-diddly-doo’s,” which spreads silliness from place to place. “And as you probably already knew, / with a silly grin on, you CAN’T stay blue!” Readers will pore over the illustrations, which range from typical city scenes to spreads amusingly infected with the “plaid germ” and the blues before returning to normal. Madison and her mother present white, and their community includes individuals with skin tones and hairstyles that suggest diversity.
A tartan twist on an old standard with plenty of humor both visual and verbal. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-17244-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient.
How do you make a new friend when an old one moves away?
Buddy (from Sorry, Grown-Ups, You Can’t Go to School, 2019, etc.) is feeling lonely. His best friend just moved across town. To make matters worse, there is a field trip coming up, and Buddy needs a bus partner. His sister, Lady, has some helpful advice for making a new pal: “You just need to find something you have in common.” Buddy loves the game Robo Chargers and karate. Surely there is someone else who does, too! Unfortunately, there isn’t. However, when a new student arrives (one day later) and asks everyone to call her Sunny instead of Alison, Buddy gets excited. No one uses his given name, either; they just call him Buddy. He secretly whispers his “real, official name” to Sunny at lunch—an indication that a true friendship is being formed. The rest of the story plods merrily along, all pieces falling exactly into place (she even likes Robo Chargers!), accompanied by Bowers’ digital art, a mix of spot art and full-bleed illustrations. Friendship-building can be an emotionally charged event in a child’s life—young readers will certainly see themselves in Buddy’s plight—but, alas, there is not much storytelling magic to be found. Buddy and his family are White, Sunny and Mr. Teacher are Black, and Buddy’s other classmates are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-30709-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind.
The cool beans again step up to do a timorous fellow legume a fava…this time at the pool.
Will a rash decision to tackle the multistory super-slide lead to another embarrassing watery fail for our shy protagonist? Nope, for up the stairs right behind comes a trio of cool beans, each a different type and color, all clad in nothing but dark shades. They make an offer: “It’s not as scary if you go with friends!” As the knobby nerd explains once the thrilling ride down is done, “They all realized that I just needed some encouragement and support.” Just to make sure that both cool and uncool readers get the message, the narrator lets us know that “there are plenty of kind folks who have my back. They’re always there when I need them.” The beany bonhomie doesn’t end at the bottom of the slide, with all gliding down to the shallow end of the pool (“3 INCHES. NO DIVING”) for a splashy finale. This latest early reader starring characters from John and Oswald’s immensely popular Food Group series will be a hit with fans. Fun accessories, such as a bean who rocks pink cat-eye frames, add some pizzazz to the chromatically and somatotypically varied cast.
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780063329560
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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