It’s a kindhearted beginning chapter book, but second-graders may wish it had some vomit jokes
Based on the title, readers might expect a book of gross humor. Instead they'll find a sweet story of friendship and competition in which everyone can be “best of the forest.”
Woodchuck Chuck is an artist working in wood and the winner of the Best of the Forest art contest three years running. Then Scooter the possum shows up. When his painting Splatter Matters wins first prize, Chuck is angry and jealous, and he begins to doubt his own abilities. Each of the eight short chapters begins with a full-page illustration that, with the chapter heading, hints at what is to come. Pictures throughout break up the text so new readers will not be intimidated. Chuck's friends provide kid-level comic relief with knock-knock jokes. (Though adults may chuckle at Scooter's similarities to Jackson Pollock and the allusion to current grass-roots movements, these references will mean nothing to beginning readers.) With wisdom beyond their years, Chuck's forest friends counsel him to gracefully accept his second-place recognition, and he rather quickly realizes that “awards are just whipped cream on a sweet-potato pie.” The final chapter, “Lesson Learned,” guarantees that no kid can miss the message.
It’s a kindhearted beginning chapter book, but second-graders may wish it had some vomit jokes . (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-58089-698-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: June 27, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
On one of the hottest weeks of the summer in Caliente, Texas, best friends Elena and Alma open competing snow-cone stands across the street from each other. As business booms and wanes, the competition gets stronger, as do the sales pitches and incentives. Extravagant decorations, puppet shows and folk dancing in traditional costume cause ever more customers to crisscross the street, until both ice machines simultaneously malfunction, pouring out colored ice shavings until a slushy rainbow ribbon of the stuff tumbles down the street, encouraging everyone to “[cascade] down the dazzling icy mound” and leaving Elena and Alma to dissolve their rivalry and renew their friendship. The full-color paintings are mostly realistic, featuring appealing, if stiff, protagonists; the rainbow-colored snow-cone slide makes for a startling and unconvincing intrusion. Lacking the charm of Strega Nona and her magical spaghetti pot, this summery, bilingual story jars with the quick flight of fancy. While the themes of friendly rivalry and work-made-fun are worthwhile, the odd deus ex machina mystifies more than it delights. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-55885-575-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
When a young rabbit daydreams in geography class of visiting the seven seas, the bodies of water he imagines are, well, not water! Speaking in rhyme and first-person voice, the rabbit travels by various means—bus to Marrakesh, taxi to Peru, mule to Istanbul, yak to Timbuktu. As he visits each sea, all named for colors, he’s surprised at what they actually are: The Yellow Sea is lemonade; the Red Sea is pizza sauce; the Black Sea is licorice. “The Brown Sea’s made of chocolate, / a place to drown your cares. / Its whipped cream foam is home sweet home / to brownish, clownish bears.” His seaworthy journey ends with a clever geography lesson about real oceans and seas. In each spread, the cartoonish rabbit, wearing a blue-and-white striped jumper, joins the silliness; in the Green Sea, he scuba dives amid a broccoli reef, and in the Red Sea, he paddles an upside-down mushroom. The exaggeration of the acrylic, textured illustrations and rhymes create an inventive and humorous approach to learning about geography. Backmatter includes further resources and “Fun Facts about Seas and Oceans.” (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5341-7
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2010
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