A fanciful celebration of the pleasures of reading.
On a rainy Sunday afternoon Bella is so engrossed in the ending of her book that she does not want to be interrupted by her usual imaginary playmates.
First, Capt. Bluebottom invites Bella to join in “another adventure with the Windy Pirates.” Then Maurice Penguin and his dancing troupe show up for a staged tap-dance routine. Politely, but firmly Bella asks everyone to be quiet because “I AM BUSY READING!” When the tentacled Emperor Flabulon the Wobbulous of the Lardon Empire arrives, Bella’s patience gives way and she emphatically demands, “BE QUIET! For the last time. I AM BUSY READING!” Although her friends don’t understand how a book could possibly be as exciting as their usual play, Bella is then allowed to finish her story, absorbed in its intrigue. Satisfied, she announces, “That was the BEST BOOK EVER!” Digital, colorful drawings of a dark-haired, light-skinned child and a host of invented cartoon personalities illuminate the narrative while key phrases are enhanced with black, bold capital lettering. And when Bella’s finally ready to spend time with her friends in an “INCREDIBLE adventure,” the group turns the page on Bella by stating: “Maybe later, Bella, but right now…WE ARE BUSY READING!” The final scene shows Capt. Bluebottom reading aloud, surrounded by the others, all animatedly absorbed in the story. The pirates display stereotypical disability accessories.
A fanciful celebration of the pleasures of reading. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: April 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68010-134-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A straightforward tale of conflict and reconciliation for newly emergent readers? Not exactly, which raises it above the...
In this deceptively spare, very beginning reader, a girl assembles a robot and then treats it like a slave until it goes on strike.
Having put the robot together from a jumble of loose parts, the budding engineer issues an increasingly peremptory series of rhymed orders— “Throw, Bot. / Row, Bot”—that turn from playful activities like chasing bubbles in the yard to tasks like hoeing the garden, mowing the lawn and towing her around in a wagon. Jung crafts a robot with riveted edges, big googly eyes and a smile that turns down in stages to a scowl as the work is piled on. At last, the exhausted robot plops itself down, then in response to its tormentor’s angry “Don’t say no, Bot!” stomps off in a huff. In one to four spacious, sequential panels per spread, Jung develops both the plotline and the emotional conflict using smoothly modeled cartoon figures against monochromatic or minimally detailed backgrounds. The child’s commands, confined in small dialogue balloons, are rhymed until her repentant “Come on home, Bot” breaks the pattern but leads to a more equitable division of labor at the end.
A straightforward tale of conflict and reconciliation for newly emergent readers? Not exactly, which raises it above the rest. (Easy reader. 4-6)Pub Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-87083-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
An unfortunately simplistic delivery of a well-intentioned message.
Drawing on lyrics from her Mormon children’s hymn of the same title, Pearson explores diversity and acceptance in a more secular context.
Addressing people of varying ages, races, origins, and abilities in forced rhymes that omit the original version’s references to Jesus, various speakers describe how they—unlike “some people”—will “show [their] love for” their fellow humans. “If you don’t talk as most people do / some people talk and laugh at you,” a child tells a tongue-tied classmate. “But I won’t! / I won’t! / I’ll talk with you / and giggle too. / That’s how I’ll show my love for you.” Unfortunately, many speakers’ actions feel vague and rather patronizing even as they aim to include and reassure. “I know you bring such interesting things,” a wheelchair user says, welcoming a family “born far, far away” who arrives at the airport; the adults wear Islamic clothing. As pink- and brown-skinned worshipers join a solitary brown-skinned person who somehow “[doesn’t] pray as some people pray” on a church pew, a smiling, pink-skinned worshiper’s declaration that “we’re all, I see, one family” raises echoes of the problematic assertion, “I don’t see color.” The speakers’ exclamations of “But I won’t!” after noting others’ prejudiced behavior reads more as self-congratulation than promise of inclusion. Sanders’ geometric, doll-like human figures are cheery but stiff, and the text’s bold, uppercase typeface switches jarringly to cursive for the refrain, “That’s how I’ll show my love for you.” Characters’ complexions include paper-white, yellow, pink, and brown.
An unfortunately simplistic delivery of a well-intentioned message. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4236-5395-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Gibbs Smith
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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