This rollicking tall tale, based on a story told to Kesey by his grandmother, was published twice, "in different form," in books for adults; this is its first appearance in a format that will also appeal to children. Both story and telling are splendid. Big Double is "HONGRY!. . .grumpy grouchy bedtime bigtime hongry. . .when I hit the hay tonight I got six months before breakfast so I need a supper the size of my sleep." In classic style, he catches and gulps down three other animals, the chase amusingly escalating each time; but the squirrel who has been watching turns the tables with a satisfyingly funny, appropriate trick. Moser contributes a dozen of his grand watercolor portraits and superbly crafted scenes, nicely touched with humor: a rabbit, grimacing and cleaning his ear with a parsnip; the bear, seen from a vertiginous perspective, hurtling downhill after the luckless rabbit. Kesey's frequent italics aren't essential, but they're expertly placed and remind the reader that this is the sort of lively, comical tale that demands reading aloud—a perfect picture book to share with older children.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1990
ISBN: 670-81136-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1990
BOOK REVIEW
I really don't think this is a juvenile at all. But since it is being sold as such, I suppose it belongs here, for it is at this particular age that telling tall tales becomes a favorite sport. A small boy has promised not to tell lies. And this is the story of a story and how it grew. The underlying humor is quite adult.
Pub Date: Sept. 28, 1937
ISBN: 0394844947
Page Count: -
Publisher: Vanguard
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1937
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the...
An all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades.
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the streets in the time-honored stiff-armed, stiff-legged fashion. McDonald signals her intent on page one: “Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie’s eye fell off and rolled across the floor.” The farce is as broad as the Atlantic, with enough spookiness just below the surface to provide the all-important shivers. Accompanied by Reynolds’ drawings—dozens of scene-setting gems with good, creepy living dead—McDonald shapes chapters around zombie motifs: making zombie costumes, eating zombie fare at school, reading zombie books each other to reach the one-million-minutes-of-reading challenge. When the zombie walk happens, it delivers solid zombie awfulness. McDonald’s feel-good tone is deeply encouraging for readers to get up and do this for themselves because it looks like so much darned fun, while the sub-message—that reading grows “strong hearts and minds,” as well as teeth and bones—is enough of a vital interest to the story line to be taken at face value.Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5692-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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