In this comical tale, the lesson lies in how the race is run.
Steve the good-natured, self-absorbed horse and his animal friends are back in a story about teamwork and sportsmanship (A Horse Named Steve, 2017).
Steve historically wins the annual Race-a-Thon, but this year the forest creatures have decided on a relay race. To be fair, teams are created by drawing names. Imagine Steve’s surprise—nay, his consternation—when he’s told his teammates are a turtle, a snail, and a duck! How can they win? Steve has a brilliant idea—possibly prompted by his teammates asking: “Coach us?” “Coach us?” He’ll “share [his] running wisdom”! His goofy smile never leaves his face as he spouts nonsensical tips, blithely oblivious to the real needs of his students. Readers are in the know. Simple, sepia-toned, cartoon-style art makes body language and facial expressions easy to read. The action unfolds in a neatly paced variety of double-page spreads, vignettes, and panels. If Steve’s coaching is ineffective, it’s no matter. It turns out that the racecourse combined with weather conditions is optimal for each of his runners’ natural abilities. Turtle, snail, and duck each pull ahead of their competitors. Steve is so proud of them (and himself, of course) that he forgets to run his portion! Steve could beat himself up—or conclude that he helped two other teams win.
In this comical tale, the lesson lies in how the race is run. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-77138-932-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
The story’s slight but allows kids to practice identifying and dealing with their own big feelings.
The diverse group of kids from All Are Welcome (2018) this time gathers in a vacant lot with tools in hand to clear the debris and make something new. But therein lies the rub: What should the something new be? While the exact nature of the disagreement is unfortunately not made clear to readers, the big feelings that the children exhibit are very clear (and for readers who need practice reading facial clues, there’s a labeled chart of 15 in the frontmatter). This book’s refrain is “How can I help? / What can we do?” And the answers, spread over several pages and not spelled out in so many words but rather shown in the illustrations, are: talk it through, compromise, and see things from another perspective. As a guide for dealing with feelings and problem-solving, the book is a bit slim and lacks a solid story to hook readers. But, as with its predecessor, its strength is again the diversity on display in its pages. There’s a rainbow of skin tones and hair colors as well as abundant variation in hair texture, several children exhibit visible disabilities, including one child who uses a wheelchair, and there are markers of religious and cultural diversity. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 29.6% of actual size.)
The story’s slight but allows kids to practice identifying and dealing with their own big feelings. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-525-57974-8
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
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