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INSIDE THE SLIDY DINER

Name: INSIDE THE SLIDY DINER
Author: Laurel Snyder
ISBN: 978-1-58246-187-8

by Laurel Snyder & illustrated by Jaime Zollars ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2008

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In as fine a game of Grossout as ever was, a child squires an anxious-looking friend around a diner in which, she claims, the cuisine runs to Pumpkin Asparagus Pie and Greasily Niblets, the floor is so slick that booths sometimes slide out into the street and the proprietor is decidedly witchy: “Sometimes Ethelmae grins at you, and you can see her tooth.” Zollars’s canted, full-bleed café scenes follow suit, with views of diners chowing down on a pig’s head, a trophy-sized cockroach fixed to a platter above the counter and basement restrooms surrounded by a flood crawling with “nefarious wigglepedes.” Still, unlike Merrilee Kutner’s Zombie Nite Café (2007), as depicted by Ethan Long, or Jane Breskin Zalben’s Saturday Night at the Beastro (2004), it’s not all bad, for “Inside the Slidy Diner, there are dark, blue secrets. / And silver whispers. / Inside the Slidy Diner there are magic trapdoors. / To birthdays and Saturdays.” Best yet, all “goodbyes have been banned!” Here’s a diner well worth repeated visits—but steer clear of the “chocolate” milk. (Picture book. 6-9)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008

ISBN: 978-1-58246-187-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tricycle

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WITCH OF WOODLAND
by Laurel Snyder

- BOOK REVIEW
ENDLESSLY EVER AFTER
by Laurel Snyder ; illustrated by Dan Santat

- BOOK REVIEW
CHARLIE & MOUSE OUTDOORS
by Laurel Snyder ; illustrated by Emily Hughes

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GOONEY BIRD GREENE

by Lois Lowry & illustrated by Middy Thomas ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2002

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Gooney Bird Greene (with a silent E) is not your average second grader. She arrives in Mrs. Pidgeon’s class announcing: “I’m your new student and I just moved here from China. I want a desk right smack in the middle of the room, because I like to be right smack in the middle of everything.” Everything about her is unusual and mysterious—her clothes, hairstyles, even her lunches. Since the second graders have never met anyone like Gooney Bird, they want to hear more about her. Mrs. Pidgeon has been talking to the class about what makes a good story, so it stands to reason that Gooney will get her chance. She tells a series of stories that explain her name, how she came from China on a flying carpet, how she got diamond earrings at the prince’s palace, and why she was late for school (because she was directing a symphony orchestra). And her stories are “absolutely true.” Actually, they are explainable and mesh precisely with the teacher’s lesson, more important, they are a clever device that exemplify the elements of good storytelling and writing and also demonstrate how everyone can turn everyday events into stories. Savvy teachers should take note and add this to their shelf of “how a story is made” titles. Gooney Bird’s stories are printed in larger type than the narrative and the black-and-white drawings add the right touch of sauciness (only the cover is in color). A hybrid of Harriet, Blossom, and Anastasia, irrepressible Gooney Bird is that rare bird in children’s fiction: one that instantly becomes an amusing and popular favorite. (Fiction. 6-9)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002

ISBN: 0-618-23848-4

Page Count: 96

Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
TREE. TABLE. BOOK.
by Lois Lowry

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WINDEBY PUZZLE
by Lois Lowry ; illustrated by Jonathan Stroh

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WILLOUGHBYS RETURN
by Lois Lowry

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BERRY MAGIC

by Teri Sloat & Betty Huffman & illustrated by Teri Sloat ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2004

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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)