A lovely, imaginative tale for the young and young at heart.
A young girl’s dreams come true in this imaginative debut children’s book.
Maggie is your typical 7-and-3/4-year old. She’s nearly three inches “taller than average,” which she loves, and she enjoys exploring, using her “jump rope as a lasso,” and mixing various items together—from different kinds of socks to potatoes and peas. One day, she mixes up something that’s just a little bit out of the ordinary: a combination of water, sugar, pink lemonade, and a few other ordinary ingredients. She spills this concoction on a tree in the backyard before she can dump it into her favorite red bucket and, disappointed, heads off to bed. That night, Maggie awakes to a crackling sound and rises to find that her tree is now completely covered in colorful, sweet sprinkles. She collects them in buckets, cups, and jars, plays with them, and eats them until she nearly gets sick. When she wakes the next morning, though, the sprinkles are gone. Or are they? A small, fuzzy squirrel in the backyard may indicate otherwise. Bray’s delightful debut children’s book is appropriate for kids and adults of all ages, and it’s sure to brighten many bedtime rituals. Maggie is a darling, precocious character (without being too much so), and her ingenuity is remarkable. Her story is also relatable—what child doesn’t like to mix up mud pies and play outside all day? The text includes a recipe for the potion that created the sprinkle tree, and young readers may want to mix it up for themselves. They may be disappointed when a sprinkle tree doesn’t result, but industrious parents can surely figure out a way to make some magic of their own. Jackson’s illustrations are wildly imaginative and vivid, and they bring Maggie’s tale, including her amazing botanical creation, to life. Arrows and text that highlight specific portions of the illustrations are a fun touch, and they make each page engaging and enjoyable. Bray and Jackson are a dazzling duo, and additional books in this series would surely be welcome.
A lovely, imaginative tale for the young and young at heart.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0991396207
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Tumbling Acorn Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Gooney Bird Greene (with a silent E) is not your average second grader. She arrives in Mrs. Pidgeon’s class announcing: “I’m your new student and I just moved here from China. I want a desk right smack in the middle of the room, because I like to be right smack in the middle of everything.” Everything about her is unusual and mysterious—her clothes, hairstyles, even her lunches. Since the second graders have never met anyone like Gooney Bird, they want to hear more about her. Mrs. Pidgeon has been talking to the class about what makes a good story, so it stands to reason that Gooney will get her chance. She tells a series of stories that explain her name, how she came from China on a flying carpet, how she got diamond earrings at the prince’s palace, and why she was late for school (because she was directing a symphony orchestra). And her stories are “absolutely true.” Actually, they are explainable and mesh precisely with the teacher’s lesson, more important, they are a clever device that exemplify the elements of good storytelling and writing and also demonstrate how everyone can turn everyday events into stories. Savvy teachers should take note and add this to their shelf of “how a story is made” titles. Gooney Bird’s stories are printed in larger type than the narrative and the black-and-white drawings add the right touch of sauciness (only the cover is in color). A hybrid of Harriet, Blossom, and Anastasia, irrepressible Gooney Bird is that rare bird in children’s fiction: one that instantly becomes an amusing and popular favorite. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-618-23848-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
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