An inviting entree, if (not unlike the institution itself) a bit staid.
When one of the marble lions guarding the main entrance to the New York Public Library goes AWOL, the other scampers off in pursuit.
Seeing Patience’s plinth unoccupied and dawn at hand, worried Fortitude steps off to track his longtime sidekick down in rigidly metric verse: “Patience told stories of ducklings and moons, / Of wardrobes and buttons and fun. / On cold snowy evenings or hot afternoons, / Fortitude cherished each one.” The quest takes readers on a quick tour of the iconic building from the Astor Hall entrance to the lofty Rose Reading Room and then back to ground level, where the errant kitty is found at last in the Children’s Center surrounded by open books. The lions make it back to their assigned places in time, but Fortitude is hooked: “ ‘Patience,’ he said, ‘when there’s no one around, / Tonight can we sneak in and read?’ ” The lions sport jutting jaws, à la Tony the Tiger, and anthropomorphic expressions, but Lewis endows the two with properly leonine manes. Along with depicting the library’s decorations and architectural details with reasonable fidelity (though nowhere is there even a glimpse of a computer), she includes recognizable images from several classic picture books. According to an unobtrusive note, the Children’s Center is scheduled to move to another building in 2020, so notwithstanding the multiple literary references, this won’t have a long shelf life as a guide for young visitors. Still, the iconic lions have greeted all comers since 1911 (though they weren’t given their current names until the 1930s) and will continue to do so for many years to come.
An inviting entree, if (not unlike the institution itself) a bit staid. (endnotes) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-15501-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Rock on, Rocket! (Early reader. 5-7)
Into the woods….
Hills’ canine picture-book protagonist, Rocket, learned how to read in his first book and now stars in an early reader designed for kids learning to read, too. The story opens when Rocket is charmed by a pink butterfly that lands on his nose, and he follows it from spread to spread until it “flies into the forest.” In contrast with prior spreads that featured ample white, open space, the ensuing illustrations of the forest are dark and saturated. A full-bleed double-page spread shows Rocket small and low at the bottom of the verso with the forest before him: “The forest is very dark. The trees are very tall. Rocket does not want to go into the forest.” After some hemming and hawing, Rocket’s desire to find the butterfly overpowers his fear of the forest, and he walks among the tall trees, looking at pine cones, ferns, and, finally, the butterfly. Necessary redundancy between art and text befits the early-reader form and allows children to find cues in the art to support decoding of the controlled text, but Hills’ deep experience as a picture-book artist enriches his attention to framing, pacing, and layout. The result is an exemplary early reader in words and images, with a happy ending, to boot.
Rock on, Rocket! (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: July 31, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-7347-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
Encouragement for moguls-to-be and fun for everyone else.
A young entrepreneur is ready to sell homemade lemonade, but everyone else has already staked out the best spots.
The nameless narrator rolls a colorful stand through the diverse city neighborhood and just keeps on going until reaching the countryside. Pushing it up a hill, the kid loses control, and the tall stand with the lemon on top goes careening through the woods until it finally stops near a river. Unexpectedly, a customer arrives! The kid serves up, and then a steady stream of customers float by: an octopus, two alligators, a sea monster, a diver in an old-fashioned helmet, and more. The kid needs to make more lemonade on the spot. After selling out and trudging home, the kid sleeps through the night dreaming about a future riverside lemonade empire. Careful readers will spot many reminders of the adventure in the kid’s bedroom. A toy octopus’s tentacles overflow from a chest, a diver’s helmet sits on the floor, pictures of sea animals and boats adorn the walls. The lines between reality and fantasy blur…but the tip jar is full. Bright cartoon illustrations are full of funny details (the lemonade-stand sign smiles and frowns expressively), and the alliterative text begs to be read aloud: “I sat for a long while, feeling terrible as a turnip,” the kid grumps at one point. The narrator has textured black hair and a ruddy complexion. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Encouragement for moguls-to-be and fun for everyone else. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 25, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2828-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
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