A beautifully illustrated, limerick-heavy, and mortality-free rendition of a classic fairy tale.
A picture book offers a rhyming retelling of “The Three Little Pigs.”
“Once, long ago, there lived a big pig. / The pig—a mother of three,” Brougher’s story begins. “Once they had grown,” they said “goodbye with a moan, / it was time, to set them all free.” Mother Pig, wearing lipstick but no clothes, lies on her side in a barn with three pigs nursing. In the next image, she is still nude, though bipedal, while her clothed pig sons walk down the road. Warrick’s digital watercolors in warm tones with dynamic penciled lines render this awkward shift between animal and human modes gracefully. The fairy tale trots on predictably, though with intriguing turns of phrase that evoke casual oral storytelling (“Along came a wolf—you know what he had? / Big hands, big feet—a big head!”). These slight textual innovations should sustain reader interest; the wolf thrice declares: “Then, I’ll huff and I’ll puff—I will blow at the house!” No pigs are eaten in this story. Instead, the villain faces his inability to blow down brick houses (“The wolf’s ego deflated—the pigs were elated”). Some modern items, including a TV, appear in this tale set “long ago.” But the treat here is the appealing, detailed art: sunny, Midwestern pastoral landscapes; lovingly rendered plump chickens; and salt-of-the-earth White farmers more than willing to sell a truckload of bricks to a small, cardigan-wearing pig.
A beautifully illustrated, limerick-heavy, and mortality-free rendition of a classic fairy tale.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73-503122-4
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Missing Piece Press, LLC
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.
The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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