The devastation that cancer can wreak, along with the fact that it can be excised, is charted here with honesty if not...
An allegorical stab, mildly pessimistic, at explaining to the quite young the effects of cancer.
The story moves forward, leisurely, at the tap of an arrow, with some tweeting of birds and hearts radiating out from a girl in love but no real interaction to speak of. Eyeville is a picture-pretty village, with cozy houses and a general state of bonhomie. One day, an odd, gnomelike creature appears at the door of Mr. Nice and volunteers to do a little construction work inside his house. Mr. Nice being nice, reluctantly agrees—after all, the house looked good to begin with—and the gnome, who goes by the name of Kanser, proceeds to do what cancer does: He metastasizes, taking over and ruining Mr. Nice’s home, along with his neighbors’ homes and businesses. Ultimately the town manages to dig out the disaster, but then they have to move, which seems a little rough after all the grief and surgery. Why not rebuild, which might be a more comforting message and lift the security factor?
The devastation that cancer can wreak, along with the fact that it can be excised, is charted here with honesty if not clarity and with a look to a life with a future. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)Pub Date: May 10, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Joel Grøndrup
Review Posted Online: June 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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