While princess-loving readers may be charmed, there’s little else to recommend this title
Can Princess Snowbelle overcome her jitters to sing at the Snow Ball?
Of course she can—with a little help from her best friend, Sparkleshine. The princess, depicted as a white girl with brown hair and blue eyes, has never sung in front of such a big audience, but her royal parents want her to sing at the ball, and she knows she can do it as long as her best friend is there to play the piano for her. Sparkleshine is depicted as a child of color with brown skin and dark curly hair, and she’s given neither a title nor a family of her own in the text. When Sparkleshine is late arriving at the Opaline Palace for the ball, Princess Snowbelle sets off on horseback to find her, but she becomes lost in the forest. Luckily, a bevy of animal friends help the princess rescue Sparkleshine, and the girls arrive at the palace just in time to change into sparkly dresses and give their performance. Despite a preponderance of princess-y gimmicks in text and art—a magical charm bracelet, for example—the text is lackluster and message-heavy, and the illustrations do little to improve the storytelling. Sparkleshine’s subordinate role is particularly discouraging.
While princess-loving readers may be charmed, there’s little else to recommend this title . (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68119-690-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Another improbable but amusing story of animal friendship.
A large polar bear who lives in a very ordinary human-looking house finds that a mouse has moved in and won’t leave.
In rhyming text, this sequel to There’s a Bear on My Chair (2016) features the same two animals at odds again. The small mouse wears a patterned ski sweater and has moved in, lock, stock, and barrel, hanging pictures on the walls (one of a big hunk of Swiss cheese and the other of himself), playing soft rock on a boom box, and eating everything in sight (except for “one pistachio”). He causes all sorts of trouble. “He’s made my bathtub overflow! / It flooded the room down below, / so now I’m soaked from head to toe. / That’s it! / I’m done! / He has to go!” The last three lines are printed in larger and larger type to indicate the bear’s frustration at the drops raining down from above. But when the mouse’s rodent friends, all dressed in wildly patterned sweaters and party hats of their own, come by bringing treats and fun, the bear eventually gets into the groove and decides “Hey…these mice are nice!” There’s a bit of Seussian fun in the illustrations as more and more mice show up in the colorful cartoons, and once again, Collins makes the most of the difference between the little mouse and the burly bear. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Another improbable but amusing story of animal friendship. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2022-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A clever celebration of the joys of trying new foods.
Every Friday, Frankie the flamingo meets her flamingo friends at the Pink Flamingo restaurant, where they all order and eat shrimp.
Not only is shrimp delicious, but it also keeps their feathers flamingo pink. Frankie loves shrimp and would be happy to eat it forever. But then, one day, while reading a magazine, she learns the word foodie and starts to wonder if she might like foods besides shrimp, if she only tried them. When her attempt to order a meal without shrimp at the Pink Flamingo fails (the server sternly pointing to a “shrimp only!” sign), she decides to go to the local market and try to cook something herself. She starts with Brussels sprouts, which she eats in so many ways that her feathers turn from pink to green. As her culinary experiments continue, her flamingo friends become curious about Frankie’s feathers, which change color with every new food she learns to cook and eat. Inspired by Frankie, her friends decide to try new foods too—and the result is more colorful than Frankie could have ever imagined! Frankie’s story will appeal to picky eaters and food enthusiasts alike. The cartoon illustrations imbue the characters with incredibly expressive—and at times humorous—faces and body language, taking full advantage of flamingo proportions to amp the comedy. The text is straightforward and clear, and the ending will leave readers deeply satisfied. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 46.9% of actual size.)
A clever celebration of the joys of trying new foods. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 22, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7624-9700-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
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