The book lacks the friendly wit of Dr. Seuss’ and Mo Willems’ early readers, but it’s a useful resource for both children...
Following Lazy Bear, Crazy Bear and Gran on a Fan (both 2015), Bolger and Hodson shift focus from phonics to introduce children to different sight words and sentences that provide the basic building blocks for independent reading.
Using juxtapositional situations between the two main characters (orange Ed and purple Fred, both indeterminate, friendly-looking bipeds with big noses), the book aims to teach 53 of the very first sight words children will encounter during their reading journeys. Ed and Fred are presented on each page doing different things: Ed is at the beach, playing, running, jumping, and swimming, while Fred is doing none of these things and usually falling into misadventures. With a few short sentences per page, the story goes on, introducing concepts to readers while being a tad cruel toward Fred with its silly examples and situations (he was fine on the horse, but he doesn’t much like having the horse on him, for instance). Eventually Fred breaks the fourth wall, demanding better scenarios, and it does not go well. A note encouraging readers to practice the words learned from the book until they can read them on their own is attached at the end.
The book lacks the friendly wit of Dr. Seuss’ and Mo Willems’ early readers, but it’s a useful resource for both children learning to read and adult English language learners, if heavy on the slapstick. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: March 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-228600-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
Amusing, yes. Useful for reading practice, yes, but not necessarily guaranteed to make new readers the “read-i-est.” (Early...
Elephant and Piggie make an appearance to introduce the first in their new series, an egalitarian introduction to superlatives.
Each one of seven blades of talking grass—of a total of eight—discovers that it is superb at something: it’s tallest, curliest, silliest, and so forth. The humor aims to appeal to a broad spectrum. It is slightly disturbing that one being eaten by purple bugs is proud of being the crunchiest, but that will certainly appeal to a slice of the audience. The eighth blade of grass is grappling with a philosophical identity crisis; its name is Walt, a sly reference to Whitman's Leaves of Grass that will go right over the heads of beginning readers but may amuse astute parents or teachers. Tension builds with the approach of a lawn mower; the blades of grass lose their unique features when they are trimmed to equal heights. Mercifully, they are chopped off right above the eyes and can continue their silly banter. Departing from the image of a Whitman-esque free spirit, Walt now discovers he is the neatest. Lots of speech bubbles, repetition, and clear layout make this entry a useful addition to lessons on adjectives and superlatives while delivering a not-so-subtle message that everyone is good at something. Elephant and Piggie's final assertion that “this book is the FUNNIEST” doesn't necessarily make it so, however.
Amusing, yes. Useful for reading practice, yes, but not necessarily guaranteed to make new readers the “read-i-est.” (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-2635-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent.
Wouldn’t the same housecat look very different to a dog and a mouse, a bee and a flea, a fox, a goldfish, or a skunk?
The differences are certainly vast in Wenzel’s often melodramatic scenes. Benign and strokable beneath the hand of a light-skinned child (visible only from the waist down), the brindled cat is transformed to an ugly, skinny slinker in a suspicious dog’s view. In a fox’s eyes it looks like delectably chubby prey but looms, a terrifying monster, over a cowering mouse. It seems a field of colored dots to a bee; jagged vibrations to an earthworm; a hairy thicket to a flea. “Yes,” runs the terse commentary’s refrain, “they all saw the cat.” Words in italics and in capital letters in nearly every line give said commentary a deliberate cadence and pacing: “The cat walked through the world, / with its whiskers, ears, and paws… // and the fish saw A CAT.” Along with inviting more reflective viewers to ruminate about perception and subjectivity, the cat’s perambulations offer elemental visual delights in the art’s extreme and sudden shifts in color, texture, and mood from one page or page turn to the next.
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5013-0
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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