The Prince of Palindromia offers a third collection, nearly all of which, he writes, “grew (very slowly) out of my brain.” Every palindrome appears as either the punchline or caption to a page-sized pen-and-ink cartoon that provides explanatory visual cues: “Red? No wonder,” thinks Ms. Claus, watching Santa paint a wall. With examples both humble (A clueless math student answers “One?” “No!” replies his teacher) and complex—“A man, a plan, a cat, a bar, a cap, a mall, a ball, a map, a car, a bat, a canal: Panama”—Agee hikes down a curious, always entertaining language byway with a book which, it can be said with perfect justice, readers will enjoy backwards and forwards. (Picture book. 6-10)
Pub Date: April 16, 1999
ISBN: 0-374-31808-5
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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A train load of wild and wacky animals gets so noisy that the engineer has to shout to get them to quiet down. The little black train picks up yaks, acrobats, a troupe of ducks, and stomping elephants as passengers. But when two mice that are in to fireworks climb aboard, the engineer threatens to stop the whole train. “ ‘Keep it down!’ yells Driver Zach. ‘You’re giving me a headache attack!’ “ Everyone quickly hushes up, and soon, “the only sound you hear, in fact,/is the sound of the wheels on the railroad track. Clickety clack, clickety clack.” The words bounce along to the rhythm of a train on its way, and the swell of the sound effects makes this a joy to read aloud. Spengler’s robust illustrations capture an antic cast of passengers, conveying the action as much through composition as color. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-670-87946-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION
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PLB 0-688-16259-2 Time is relative, as Griffith’s pleasingly droll story makes clear, especially when a cat, a dog, a turtle, and a couple gnats get together to compare longevity. The dog, Alex, has made a cake for his friend, Robbie, a boy turning ten who never appears in these pages. A cat notes that Robbie’s years equal about 70 of hers, while a turtle figures that the same number equals about 8 of his years, because he can live to be 100. Two gnats buzz in to check on the doings, and they can’t even begin to comprehend the very notion of ten years—“ ‘Well, they’re gnats,’ said the cat. ‘Ten years to a boy is one billion years to a gnat.’ “ As Alex tries to determine how many candles are needed for each new configuration, the cat sniffs the cake: “This seems to be made of dog biscuits,” and the higher mathematics are put on the back burner while some sheer tomfoolery comes to the fore. This is a delightful exploration of dry humor and number-juggling, accompanied by some elegantly funny artwork. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-16258-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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