Nothing less than a revision of Genesis is what Lionni is up to in this liberating fable (with just a hint as well of Peter Rabbit) about two little rabbits who are warned not to eat apples from the tree (or "the fox will get you") but who, in their father's absence, are induced to do so by a serpent who not only picks them the ripest apples but also plays with them and even chases the fox away. And so, when the old rabbit returns, instead of punishing the little ones he becomes a convert to their happy ways. Lionni's serenely simple illustrations represent a pleasing reversal of his recent drift toward sophistication, and his "dragon," really the serpent with the two rabbits hiding inside him, an ingenious but elegant delight. And children as yet innocent of the constraining original will find the story as natural and satisfying as the author intended.
Pub Date: April 12, 1975
ISBN: 0394930894
Page Count: -
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1975
A visual feast and rhyming text provide read-aloud fun and encouragement for picky eaters.
A little girl and her dragon have different ideas about what’s good to eat in Weaver’s picture book.
Feeding a pet dragon can be quite a challenge, especially if the dragon is prone to fire-breathing—just ask the little girl (who has light-colored skin and blond hair) at the center of this whimsical picture book. Her hungry dragon once “lost complete control,” spat fire, and singed the seat of her pants. “So, now I must be careful and make sure he’s always fed,” she says, “or else I might end up with toasted underwear instead!” But what to fix for a dragon’s lunch? The unnamed girl is sure the dragon’s culinary tastes “are similar to mine,” so she rules out vegetables and casseroles in favor of pizza, a milkshake, and chocolate cake. As the clever, rhyming narrative continues, the proposed dragon menu becomes more outlandish, including frosted tacos, a candy bar sandwich, a chocolate lake, and “mountains made of pancakes.” With a light touch, Weaver wraps this quirky fantasy around a good message for picky eaters; the dragon’s preference for steak and veggies persuades the little girl to give more nutritious foods a try. Soylu’s vivid, idiosyncratic, full-page color illustrations are a delight, complemented by the text layout, which is varied with curves, angles, colors, and quirky lettering.
A visual feast and rhyming text provide read-aloud fun and encouragement for picky eaters.Pub Date: July 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781736267363
Page Count: 36
Publisher: A Little Offbeat Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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PERSPECTIVES
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the...
An all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades.
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the streets in the time-honored stiff-armed, stiff-legged fashion. McDonald signals her intent on page one: “Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie’s eye fell off and rolled across the floor.” The farce is as broad as the Atlantic, with enough spookiness just below the surface to provide the all-important shivers. Accompanied by Reynolds’ drawings—dozens of scene-setting gems with good, creepy living dead—McDonald shapes chapters around zombie motifs: making zombie costumes, eating zombie fare at school, reading zombie books each other to reach the one-million-minutes-of-reading challenge. When the zombie walk happens, it delivers solid zombie awfulness. McDonald’s feel-good tone is deeply encouraging for readers to get up and do this for themselves because it looks like so much darned fun, while the sub-message—that reading grows “strong hearts and minds,” as well as teeth and bones—is enough of a vital interest to the story line to be taken at face value.Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5692-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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