Just telling the story in simple prose is the only upgrade that could save this app.
A trip down an Amazonian river is sunk by forced and awkward rhyming text.
Roberto takes a river trip in the Amazon rainforest hoping to spot Mother Nature. Along the way, he meets up with some fascinating creatures but never quite spots her. In the end, he finally realizes that he did find Mother Nature because “she is in everything, and she is everywhere.” The art is pedestrian, although the animation introduces some interesting perspectives. There are some good interactive effects, such as the ability to move a firefly lantern around a page to light up areas of the screen. The app is narrated in English, Spanish or Portuguese. The addition of a map for self-direction is a nice touch, although it is missing a way to navigate to the beginning of the story. The text includes some interesting tidbits, but the rhyme and rhythm make the story hard to listen to and nearly impossible to read aloud: “Look all around, and smile off that frown. / Alligators look mean but you don’t need to scream, / ’cause the light really makes them calm down.” Moreover, there are no sources or notes to indicate whether any of the assertions in the story are factual or not.
Just telling the story in simple prose is the only upgrade that could save this app. (iPad storybook app. 3-8)Pub Date: March 2, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Studio Malatesta
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
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