Eat your vegetables. It's an ancient refrain, one whose totalitarian ring has always rubbed kids the wrong way. Here it gets recycled with all the subtlety of a stomach ache. It's vegetable vaudeville night at the Garden Street Theater, and the cukes and taters are performing their hearts out, but edification, not entertainment, gets top billing, and the agenda is hammered home with a vengeance. These veggies are bores who can't stop chirping their healthy attributes: Ms. Shelly and the Wee Peas are ``Protein-packed'' and the Veggettes are ``vitamin powered.'' Subtitles assault readers like brain-washing sessions: ``Beans are a tummy's friend'' and ``Perfect at mealtimes and in between.'' There is even a ditty called ``Veggies Are Not for Sissies.'' Riddles have the snap of old celery—``What's green and flies? Super Pea!'' The vibrantly colored artwork—cut paper and prints, found objects, and nice linework combined in dazzling collage scenes— show the care and good intentions behind the book, but nearly bury subtitles as well as the copyright and title pages. An annotated listing of vegetables closes the show. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-316-11363-8
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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
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