A top-notch early reader, with words and art in perfect step.
Two brothers create four fine and loopy entertainments to fill their day.
At daybreak, “Charlie woke up. There was a lump beside him.” (In bed, under the covers, as Hughes’ wry artwork relates.) “He poked the lump. The lump moaned.” It’s Mouse, who moans that he is sleeping. Charlie challenges that. “How can you be sleeping?...You are talking.” They get up and go poke the two lumps in their parents’ bed. “I am a mom,” the lump announces. “I can do what I want.” This same spirit informs the following three sagas in this early reader. One is a gathering parade to a neighborhood party, featuring a variety of genders, classes, and races. Mixed-race Charlie and Mouse have a white mom and an Asian dad; Mouse, although he takes the masculine pronoun, wears a pink tutu. Next Charlie and Mouse try to earn some money by selling rocks. Neither the elderly brown lady nor the interracial gay couple are in the market, but they do need rocks removed and will pay for the service. Mom, want it or not, gets a rock garden. Lastly, the boys create a new tradition: a bedtime banana, only to conspire after lights out that a bedtime Popsicle may be better. Snyder serves the stories with propulsive good cheer and a pleasing cadence, keeping the pages flipping, while Hughes’ illustrations have crazy-quilt complexity and visual texture.
A top-notch early reader, with words and art in perfect step. (Early reader. 6-9)Pub Date: April 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4521-3153-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
An effective early chapter book conveyed in a slightly overdone gag.
Epistolary dispatches from the eternal canine/feline feud.
Simon the cat is angry. He had done a good job taking care of his boy, Andy, but now that Andy’s parents are divorced, a dog named Baxter has moved into Andy’s dad’s house. Simon believes that there isn’t enough room in Andy’s life for two furry friends, so he uses the power of the pen to get Baxter to move out. Inventively for the early-chapter-book format, the story is told in letters written back and forth; Simon’s are impeccably spelled on personalized stationery while Baxter’s spelling slowly improves through the letters he scrawls on scraps of paper. A few other animals make appearances—a puffy-lipped goldfish who for some reason punctuates her letter with “Blub…blub…” seems to be the only female character (cued through stereotypical use of eyelashes and red lipstick), and a mustachioed snail ferries the mail to and fro. White-appearing Andy is seen playing with both animals as a visual background to the text, as is his friend Noah (a dark-skinned child who perhaps should not be nicknamed “N Man”). Cat lovers will appreciate Simon’s prickliness while dog aficionados will likely enjoy Baxter’s obtuse enthusiasm, and all readers will learn about the time and patience it takes to overcome conflict and jealousy with someone you dislike.
An effective early chapter book conveyed in a slightly overdone gag. (Fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4492-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
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