Those who love pigs, pirates, and planets are sure to be pleased.
Persuasive pig Rufus Leroy Williams III shatters the porcine glass ceiling—or in this case atmosphere—yet again in his third outing.
Ever since mastering literacy in Rufus Goes to School (2013), the titular pig has used his skills to find adventure. After convincing Capt. Wibblyshins to let him join a pirate crew in Rufus Goes to Sea (2015), his pirate mateys demand fresh new tales—but Rufus is all out! In search of stories, Rufus is determined to go boldly where no pig has gone before: Mars. There’s only one problem: Cmdr. Luna (a black woman) believes that pigs aren’t made of “the right stuff” because they are bound to “do loop-the-loops in the crew cabin” and “hog the juice packets.” Despite Luna’s bias, Rufus isn’t deterred: he’s been rejected before, but that’s never stopped him. After a few tries, he gets lucky: the Mars mission will be cancelled unless they can find someone to read a book on Mars, via livestream, to children around the world. Lucky for them, Rufus is the pig for the job! Quiet pen-and-ink illustrations show the pink pig in his element as he tumbles about, carrying his oversized books with him. While some readers new to Rufus may be puzzled at his jump from golden age piracy to futuristic space travel, fans of Rufus will be glad to see him triumph and will look forward to seeing where his next adventure will take him.
Those who love pigs, pirates, and planets are sure to be pleased. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4549-2099-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too many bugs, figuratively.
Lucy, “the youngest member of a family of fireflies,” must overcome an irrational, moon-induced anxiety in order to leave her family tree trunk and glow.
The first six pages pull readers into a lush, beautiful world of nighttime: “When the sun has set, silence falls over the Big Forest, and all of the nighttime animals wake up.” Mixed media provide an enchanting forest background, with stylized flora and fauna eventually illuminated by a large, benign moon, because the night “doesn’t like to catch them by surprise.” Turning the page catches readers by surprise, though: the family of fireflies is decidedly comical and silly-looking. Similarly, the text moves from a lulling, magical cadence to a distinct shift in mood as the bugs ready themselves for their foray into the night: “They wave their bottoms in the air, wiggle their feelers, take a deep, deep breath, and sing, ‘Here we go, it’s time to glow!’ ” It’s an acceptable change, but more unevenness follows. Lucy’s excitement about finally joining the other bugs turns to “sobbing” two nights in a row. Instead of directly linking her behavior to understandable reactions of children to newness, the text undermines itself by making Lucy’s parents’ sweet reassurances impotent and using the grandmother’s scientific explanation of moonlight as an unnecessary metaphor. Further detracting from the story, the text becomes ever denser and more complex over the book’s short span.
Too many bugs, figuratively. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-84-16147-00-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
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