by Kelly DiPucchio & illustrated by Gris Grimly ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2008
There’s no printed music but few readers will feel the lack, as DiPucchio expertly recasts 18 chestnuts into rousingly icky versions that practically sing themselves. Introducing such soon-to-be-favorites as “Do Your Guts Hang Low?” “99 Bottles of Blood on the Wall” and the genuinely revolting “Blow, Blow, Blow Your Nose,” this collection makes Judy Sierra’s Monster Goose (2001) and even Alan Katz’s takeoffs seem positively restrained. As is his wont, Grimly spatters his dark scenes with unidentifiable substances and populates them with grotesquely misshapen creatures—who, thankfully, look down or aside rather than directly out at viewers. Children who enjoy being creeped out won’t be able to get enough: “Home, home of the strange, / where the feared and the freaks come to play. / Where the stench in the air / comes from goon underwear / and the kids are all pasty and gray.” All together now. (Poetry. 8-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-439-58401-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2008
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by Jan Brett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999
In a snowbound Swiss village, Matti figures it’s a good day to make a gingerbread man. He and his mother mix a batch of gingerbread and tuck it in the oven, but Matti is too impatient to wait ten minutes without peeking. When he opens the door, out pops a gingerbread baby, taunting the familiar refrain, “Catch me if you can.” The brash imp races all over the village, teasing animals and tweaking the noses of the citizenry, until there is a fair crowd on his heels intent on giving him a drubbing. Always he remains just out of reach as he races over the winterscape, beautifully rendered with elegant countryside and architectural details by Brett. All the while, Matti is busy back home, building a gingerbread house to entice the nervy cookie to safe harbor. It works, too, and Matti is able to spirit the gingerbread baby away from the mob. The mischief-maker may be a brat, but the gingerbread cookie is also the agent of good cheer, and Brett allows that spirit to run free on these pages. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23444-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
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by Chris Newell ; illustrated by Winona Nelson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 2, 2021
Essential.
A measured corrective to pervasive myths about what is often referred to as the “first Thanksgiving.”
Contextualizing them within a Native perspective, Newell (Passamaquoddy) touches on the all-too-familiar elements of the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving and its origins and the history of English colonization in the territory now known as New England. In addition to the voyage and landfall of the Mayflower, readers learn about the Doctrine of Discovery that arrogated the lands of non-Christian peoples to European settlers; earlier encounters between the Indigenous peoples of the region and Europeans; and the Great Dying of 1616-1619, which emptied the village of Patuxet by 1620. Short, two- to six-page chapters alternate between the story of the English settlers and exploring the complex political makeup of the region and the culture, agriculture, and technology of the Wampanoag—all before covering the evolution of the holiday. Refreshingly, the lens Newell offers is a Native one, describing how the Wampanoag and other Native peoples received the English rather than the other way around. Key words ranging from estuary to discover are printed in boldface in the narrative and defined in a closing glossary. Nelson (a member of the Leech Lake Band of Minnesota Chippewa) contributes soft line-and-color illustrations of the proceedings. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Essential. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-72637-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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