Both informative and emotionally gratifying.
Adversity brings out the best in people.
A young boy, perhaps the author/illustrator’s younger self, witnesses this principle firsthand—and is himself a testament to it—when a hurricane wreaks havoc. Readers meet the young narrator, who describes his “favorite place in the world” as the neighborhood dock, overlooking the nearby river, where he swims and fishes. Returning home one day, he sees his dad reinforcing their house’s windows because a hurricane’s approaching. The boy worries: What will happen to his dock? The storm’s destructive fury is dramatically portrayed both textually and visually, allowing readers to share his concern. The boy’s fears are confirmed next morning when he observes the storm’s damage to his street: Indeed, the dock has been destroyed. Unfortunately, neighbors can’t help immediately, as they’re occupied with their own home repairs; nevertheless, the boy lends them a helping hand. Afterward, with pluck, ingenuity, and every resource available, the kid attempts dock repair himself…until all his neighbors, having completed their own work and been impressed by the boy’s initiative, pitch in with new supplies and sturdily fix up “our dock.” This is exactly told, down-to-earth story about folks coming together in troubled times will evoke readers’ empathy. The excellent, realistic illustrations, rendered in pencil and watercolors, enhance the already accessible, satisfying reading experience. The narrator and dad present White; neighbors are somewhat diverse. Front endpapers provide facts about how hurricanes develop. Rear endpapers include a replica of a charming note written by 6-year-old Rocco to his parents about a fishing trip and a labeled diagram featuring the parts of a dock. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Both informative and emotionally gratifying. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5493-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard.
A grouchy sapling on a Christmas tree farm finds that there are better things than lights and decorations for its branches.
A Grinch among the other trees on the farm is determined never to become a sappy Christmas tree—and never to leave its spot. Its determination makes it so: It grows gnarled and twisted and needle-less. As time passes, the farm is swallowed by the suburbs. The neighborhood kids dare one another to climb the scary, grumpy-looking tree, and soon, they are using its branches for their imaginative play, the tree serving as a pirate ship, a fort, a spaceship, and a dragon. But in winter, the tree stands alone and feels bereft and lonely for the first time ever, and it can’t look away from the decorated tree inside the house next to its lot. When some parents threaten to cut the “horrible” tree down, the tree thinks, “Not now that my limbs are full of happy children,” showing how far it has come. Happily for the tree, the children won’t give up so easily, and though the tree never wished to become a Christmas tree, it’s perfectly content being a “trick or tree.” Martinez’s digital illustrations play up the humorous dichotomy between the happy, aspiring Christmas trees (and their shoppers) and the grumpy tree, and the diverse humans are satisfyingly expressive.
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7335-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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