LAND OF MISLAID

Name: LAND OF MISLAID
Author: Lisa Boersen

by Lisa Boersen & illustrated by Jort van der Jagt & developed by YipYip ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 20, 2013

In the end, Hannah gives in to her grandfather’s elaborate, made-up story and accepts the licorice. Perhaps she was just...

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A missing peppermint sends a young girl and her grandfather on a journey to where missing things go in a strikingly illustrated but too-thin story.

When Hannah asks her grandfather if he’s seen her missing candy in the family living room, he offers her a piece of licorice, as he has eaten the peppermint himself. Rather than confessing, Grandpa spins a tale of the Land of Mislaid, where lost objects go. Using items from the living room, such as teapots, a clock, and a salt-and-pepper set, Grandpa leads Hannah through outsized fantasies on the way to finding the missing candy. While the settings are fanciful, such as the “Twilight Peninsula, where lamps sparkled in the night,” character development seems to have been mislaid. Hannah and her grandfather have no personalities to speak of beyond the obvious (she is young and curious; he is willing to go to great lengths to entertain his granddaughter). Only the exaggerated visuals—giant heads and bodies with tiny limbs—give them life. The illustrations, convincing, animated miniworlds of gigantic fish and table-salty seas, are the primary reason to read the story, which presents so much text on most pages that whole paragraphs scroll right off the bottom of the screen.

In the end, Hannah gives in to her grandfather’s elaborate, made-up story and accepts the licorice. Perhaps she was just tired of hearing his drawn-out story. (Requires iOS 7 and above.) (iPad storybook app. 3-8)

Pub Date: Dec. 20, 2013

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: YipYip

Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

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PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

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PETE THE KITTY'S FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL
by Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean

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by James Dean & Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean

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TOOL SCHOOL
by Joan Holub ; illustrated by James Dean

HOW TO MAKE AN APPLE PIE AND SEE THE WORLD

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HOW TO MAKE AN APPLE PIE AND SEE THE WORLD

by Marjorie Priceman & illustrated by Marjorie Priceman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 1994

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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)