The glass door says ``pull,'' but the mayor is pushing, and he's getting blisters. This he tells to a passing policeman who offers help: ``Blisters . . . plenty of them.'' But the cop hears wrong, and he shouts, ``We need blasters! Twenty of them,'' to the gathering crowd. The crowd hears ``disaster,'' and mass panic ensues. So it goes in Tangle Town. Into the hubbub strolls Roxy Toppler, a farm girl looking for her wayward cow. ``What's going on?'' she asks, and the answers come fast. `` `The mayor!'—`The mayor got blistered!'—`Plastered!'—`Blasted to bits by twenty twisters!'—`Big, big disaster!' '' Swinging into action, Roxy deploys her ``barnyard instincts'' to herd the crazed mob, attain a semblance of order (defined in Tangle Town as anything other than total chaos), and find her cow. Cyrus's first book creates good slaphappy wordplay—the text can be read aloud in either a bark or a lilt—and his illustrations aptly convey both the frantic behavior of the crowd and the bird's nest of streets, overpasses, and buildings that make up this twisted city. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 15, 1997
ISBN: 0-374-37384-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-88240-575-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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