A didactic lesson couched in humor and fantasy, it will delight young children, but it’s anyone’s guess they’ll learn the...
“I want….I want…!” Caregivers who find these words all too familiar may find this etiquette book useful.
There are two main characters—a pigtailed little girl and a prim, mustachioed gentleman in an orange tuxedo (is he her father, a genie, or a random gentleman on the street, readers may wonder); both are depicted with paper-white skin. In every scene, the girl is corrected when she yells, “I want….I want…!” She learns that if she asks nicely and says “please,” she’ll get what she wants—and more! “Please say ‘please.’ and you’ll brighten my day. / But if you say, ‘I WANT,’ I’ll just walk away,” the gentleman says. When the girl’s politely worded request for a giant is rewarded, the tables are turned. “I want to PLAY!” screams the giant. “WAIT! Please say ‘please,’ and you might get your way,” she replies as his foot hovers over her head. Speech bubbles and bold, bright brush strokes evoke the comic strips of yesteryear, while the dialogue-only rhyming text sets a brisk pace. Overall, the story has admirable objectives, but it could mislead. “Please say ‘please’ and I’ll grant any wish,” may give kids the impression that just as long as they say “please,” they’ll get anything and everything they want, a misconception bound to lead to disappointment.
A didactic lesson couched in humor and fantasy, it will delight young children, but it’s anyone’s guess they’ll learn the lesson intended . (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-84485-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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