A slice-of-life tale that delivers. Kids will eat it up.
A slice of pizza with googly eyes encourages a prospective eater to look elsewhere for a meal.
At first, the pizza slice is unsuspecting as the second-person narrator describes how to go about eating pizza: choose the right slice, sprinkle with hot-pepper flakes, add some basil. The eater (never pictured) says, “I always pick the BIGGEST,” and it dawns on the slice that it’s about to be eaten. “Now, hold on a minute! You’re planning to eat me?” the slice demands. “That is disgusting!” But it seems perfectly willing to serve up its neighbors to save itself. And, really, each slice does have something special to offer. One’s a “perfect isosceles,” one knows karate, one’s musical, one is a bookworm. It’s a diverse cast of slices, although they are united in outrage in learning their fate. But then the slices rally together in an act of pizza power and recommend that the eater choose vegetables and fruits instead. But: “Don’t eat me!” says the mushroom, “I’m a fun guy!” and “Save the trees!” says the broccoli. But it becomes a domino effect, as each vegetable becomes just another topping. Burgerman’s signature doodle art, with googly eyes on every prospective foodstuff, cheesy humor, and crusty characters, will have young readers drooling as they digest a good book.
A slice-of-life tale that delivers. Kids will eat it up. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2885-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fun enough once through, but not much more.
A pint-sized sleuth tracks a purple underground monster.
When Mom scrapes the family's uneaten spaghetti into the sink, young Sammy Sanders hears strange slurping sounds. He becomes "77 percent convinced" that a spaghetti-slurping serpent lives in his sewer, and can't get to sleep. The next morning, Sammy and his little sister Sally investigate. There are meatballs and strands of limp spaghetti around the manhole cover! Sammy, whose round glasses make the whites of his eyes look as enormous as an owl's, can barely contain his excitement. After he removes the cover, Sally slips on some sauce and lands in the sewer, becoming a smelly sludgy mess. Sammy's left to investigate alone and comes up with a brilliant idea. Late that night, he sneaks out of the house with a salty snack for himself and a bowl of spaghetti for the serpent. But he falls asleep, and the huge serpent slithers up to the scrumptious spaghetti. Slurping sounds startle Sammy awake; he's face-to-face with the monster. There's just one thing to do: Share! Sammy' salty snack earns him a friend for life. And that night, he sleeps soundly, 100% sure that there's a serpent in his sewer. Zenz's illustrations, in Prismacolor colored pencil, look generic, but Ripes' yarn has pace and phonetic crackle.
Fun enough once through, but not much more. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7614-6101-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
A well-written fantasy adventure for lovers of pirates and haters of siblings.
Crispin escapes to a world of pirates and dragons in Dickison’s fantasy-adventure novel.
Crispin, a boy around 10 years old, who is white with light-brown spiky hair, has a sister named Rose. She may want to play on a rainy day, but Crispin is already out the door and jumping into a puddle that transports him straight to another world. He joins a frog pirate crew and vows to find a magical sword that so far has eluded his grasp. “Now weigh the anchor, hoist the flag, the plans have all been made: Today we search the seven seas to find the LIGHTNING BLADE!” But before they can even cast off, Rose floats down from the sky on an umbrella. Crispin is against her being on the ship, but her offer of snacks and decluttering is enough to buy her passage. As she works, the pirates sail from whirlpool to jungle and from Lava Peak to Ocean’s End to seek out the missing weapon. Just as Crispin begins to accept Rose’s presence, a red dragon kidnaps her. Dickison’s debut as an author/illustrator has it all: a relatable sibling relationship, powerful treasure, and even cannibals. His depictions of Rose and Crispin in a world of lush color echo the magic of Studio Ghibli films like My Neighbor Totoro (1988). The rhyming couplets provide the story with a traditional lilt that lends it the timelessness of a classic picture book.
A well-written fantasy adventure for lovers of pirates and haters of siblings.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9781591281078
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Canonball Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 22, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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