One of the few books about Shakespeare that children and adults can equally enjoy sharing.
Costume designer Leech (The Dollies Put On a Play, 2009, etc.) has created engaging tableaux of scenes from a variety of Shakespeare plays for the picture-book crowd.
Each spread features a photograph of the actors—18-inch dolls—in richly detailed dress against luscious backgrounds on the right, with a quote from a play on the left. The first spread portraying Romeo and Juliet on the balcony will surely draw the youngest readers into the beautiful world Leech and her talented team have created. The charming photo shows a caped Romeo climbing toward Juliet, in period dress and snood, whose balcony appears to be made from an oversize flowerpot with real-looking climbing ivy; dramatic clouds light the night sky in the background. The text reads simply: “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” with speaker, play, act and scene noted. Since the text is entirely penned by Shakespeare, the author’s contribution is in the selection. Tantrum-prone youngsters are likely to relate to Katharina’s speech from The Taming of the Shrew: “Nay then, do what thou canst. I will not go today; no, nor tomorrow, not ’til I please myself.” However, Falstaff’s lines from Merry Wives of Windsor may first alarm and then confuse young readers: “They are fairies; he that speaks to them shall die. I’ll wink and couch; no man their works must eye!” The spread showing young Hamlet holding poor Yorick’s skull, seemingly freshly dug from a woodland grave, may stir up some questions. Young readers will also be fascinated by the three witches from Macbeth and delight in the musicians from Twelfth Night and Titania and Bottom’s flowery bower from Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the scene showing Prospero engaged in secret studies, the detail in his scarf, robe and scepter is remarkable. While the picture-book age group is too young to appreciate the plots and meanings of Shakespeare’s plays, this confection will give them a good taste of Shakespeare’s world and the desire to explore it more fully when they are older.
One of the few books about Shakespeare that children and adults can equally enjoy sharing.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0984913374
Page Count: 32
Publisher: The Home Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 31, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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