In her second book, Kenah (Eggs Over Easy, 1993) tells the story of a little girl named Pip who travels in her dream to a strange sort of store first suggested by her cousin, Joseph. The dream locale is a tiny shop from the outside, but once inside, in that surrealistic manner of all dreams, the huge shelves stretch on and on endlessly, filled with every sort of magical reverie from sweet dreams (a boxed sunset) to nightmares (“knots of snakes” and “racks of bad report cards”). Joseph joins Pip in her dream, and together they push their shopping carts down the aisles of the dream supermarket until they discover a baby dragon that sets off on a rampage around the store, unleashing thunder, hailstones, and hurricanes. The kids corral the dragon with the lure of their boxed sunset and a treasure map (handily labeled with the phrase “Here be dragons”), and Pip awakens back in her farmland home with that familiar old it-was-all-a-dream ending. Impressionistic paintings effectively capture the shifting, nebulous feel of the dream setting. The oversized format with double-page spreads make this a good choice for reading aloud in a group setting as well as a bibliotherapeutic balm for kids with scary dreams of their own. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-688-17900-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Very young gardeners will need more information, but for certain picky eaters, the suggested strategy just might work.
A young spinach hater becomes a spinach lover after she has to grow her own in a class garden.
Unable to trade away the seed packet she gets from her teacher for tomatoes, cukes or anything else more palatable, Sylvia reluctantly plants and nurtures a pot of the despised veggie then transplants it outside in early spring. By the end of school, only the plot’s lettuce, radishes and spinach are actually ready to eat (talk about a badly designed class project!)—and Sylvia, once she nerves herself to take a nibble, discovers that the stuff is “not bad.” She brings home an armful and enjoys it from then on in every dish: “And that was the summer Sylvia Spivens said yes to spinach.” Raff uses unlined brushwork to give her simple cartoon illustrations a pleasantly freehand, airy look, and though Pryor skips over the (literally, for spinach) gritty details in both the story and an afterword, she does cover gardening basics in a simple and encouraging way.
Very young gardeners will need more information, but for certain picky eaters, the suggested strategy just might work. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9836615-1-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Readers to Eaters
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2012
An impending school visit by a celebrity chef sends budding cook Ollie into a tailspin. He and his classmates are supposed to bring a favorite family food for show and tell, but his family doesn’t have a clear choice—besides, his little sister Rosy doesn’t like much of anything. What to do? As in their previous two visits to Room 75, Kenah builds suspense while keeping the tone light, and Carter adds both bright notes of color and familiar home and school settings in her cartoon illustrations. Eventually, Ollie winkles favorite ingredients out of his clan, which he combines into a mac-and-cheese casserole with a face on top that draws delighted praise from the class’s renowned guest. As Ollie seems to do his kitchen work without parental assistance, a cautionary tip or two (and maybe a recipe) might not have gone amiss here, but the episode’s mouthwatering climax and resolution will guarantee smiles of contentment all around. (Easy reader. 6-7)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-06-053561-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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