Multiple readings might encourage new illogical rhyming sequences for even more hysterical laughter.
Robbery here comes with rhyming wordplay.
“Once upon a time, / a thief committed a crime. / Everything he stole was replaced with a rhyme.” The thief takes pink, fuzzy Hammy’s hat and swaps it with a cat. The Silly Putty–like Marlow’s smile is replaced with a crocodile. As each new heist is announced on recto, the following verso reveals a new rhyming substitute that makes little sense, resulting in ridiculous fun. Matte colors in primary hues against a complementary solid background feature a motley assortment of black-outlined, googly-eyed, monsterlike characters from which various items are stolen by an equally strange-looking bandit dressed in jailbird black-and-white stripes. Tootle, a blue creature with green nose and limbs set against a pink backdrop, loses its dog, which is replaced by a barking log. Blue, birdlike Gertie’s pretty rainbow house, set against a sunny yellow background, is replaced by a giant gray mouse. The unexpected silliness of each larcenous conclusion will have kids stealing giggles and groans as this crook pilfers the normal order of sensible language on the way to an absurd, rhyming finale. Unable to find any match for Tumble’s orange (“Borange? Dorange? Porange?”), the burglar, momentarily stumped, is finally arrested and taken to jail—but an escape leaves readers to anticipate a new series of rhyming offenses.
Multiple readings might encourage new illogical rhyming sequences for even more hysterical laughter. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2884-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Summertime fun.
Summer vacation is the stuff children’s dreams are made of.
This collection of verse begins with that first day a child can sleep in instead of being woken up for school by the alarm clock (“BEEP-BEEP-SNOOZE”) and ends with the first day back at school. In between, full-color cartoon illustrations and short, upbeat poems, usually one per page, explore how children in diverse communities spend their summers. They line up on the sidewalk after hearing “the jingle jangle of the ice-cream truck!” They cool off by playing on a backyard slip 'n slide or by visiting the neighborhood pool, the lake, or the beach (where a child builds a sand castle only to see it washed away and another listens to a seashell). Summer also means a family road trip with all-too-frequent rest stops and a motel stay with treats like a giant TV, “teensy soaps and teensy shampoo / and beds made for bouncing.” A trip to an amusement park is captured in a creative shape poem about the thrills of a log ride and playful font changes that emphasize the ever changing perspective found on a Ferris wheel. Summer also includes going to camp as well as camping out in the backyard and enjoying s’mores and an astronomy lesson from Grandpa. As in the creators’ other Here I Come! books, the verse is peppy, with details sure to get kids jazzed, brought to life by the exuberant cartoon art. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Summertime fun. (Picture book/poetry. 4-8)Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-38721-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Cute and brave—gee, Rot’s spud-tacular!
A “scaredy-spud” puts on his brave face.
All “mutant potatoes” love mud. Mud is good for playing games, eating, and even sleeping. But few taters have more tender feelings toward muck than Rot. À la Pete the Cat, Rot celebrates mud in song: “Mud between my toes! / Mud in my nose! / Mud is GREAT / wherever it GOES!” When Rot’s big brother, Snot, tells Rot about the Squirm that lives “deep down in the mushy muck,” his love quickly turns to fear. But he doesn’t give up! Instead, Rot imagines himself in various disguises to work up courage. There’s “Super Spud” (a superhero), “Sir Super Rot, the Brave and Bold” (a superhero-knight), and even “Sir Super Rot the Pigtato” (a, um, superhero-knight-pig-potato). The disguises are one thing, but, deep down, is Rot really brave enough to face the Squirm? Readers wooed by Rot’s charm in Rot: The Cutest in the World (2017) will laugh out loud at this well-paced encore—and it’s not just because of the butt cracks. Clanton creates a winning dynamic, balancing Rot’s earnestness, witty dialogue, and an omniscient, slightly melodramatic narrator. The cartoon illustrations were created using watercolors, colored pencils, digital collage, and—brilliantly—potato stamps. Clanton’s reliance on earth tones makes for some clever, surprising page turns when the palette is broken.
Cute and brave—gee, Rot’s spud-tacular! (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6764-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
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