On Monday, his dog eats the peanut butter and jelly off his homework…and his homework, too. He has to redo it and miss...
When a beloved teacher is replaced by a substitute for the week, Martin lives out every homework excuse in the book.
On Monday, his dog eats the peanut butter and jelly off his homework…and his homework, too. He has to redo it and miss recess. On Tuesday, it goes through the wash. He writes lines and misses recess. By this time, readers will be wondering what other tragedy will befall the unlucky Martin. On Thursday, he grabs the wrong backpack and has a dolly instead of his homework. That night, his dad suggests that the morose Martin think of something interesting to research on the computer as a cure for the boring homework blues. But on Friday, his homework woes continue when a gust of wind snatches his definitions. The following Monday, Martin drags himself into the classroom prepared for something to have happened to his homework once again. But to his surprise, his teacher is back with a homework assignment that is right up Martin’s alley. Davis’ toothy cartoon characters are wonderfully expressive, especially the hapless Martin. The bright colors and humorous situations are certain to keep readers’ attention as they try to guess what could possibly happen to Martin next.Pub Date: July 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-24533-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
A potential gift for fans of the contributors’ earlier work.
A text-heavy, joke-filled monograph about a dreaded bestowal.
In this meta text, an unseen narrator gripes about everything they wish they had received as a present, including a dog and a skateboard. “Now I feel like I have to read it,” the narrator grumps about their book gift. In subsequent spreads, they express their frustration. Sensitive bibliophiles beware: The narrator is ruthless in their scorn of giving books as presents. Some may tire of the message, repeated page after page in different ways: “Look, I’m a doer, not a reader,” one page reads, accompanied by an image of a muscled arm. The narrator makes references to clogging the toilet with homemade slime (“I told them it most definitely wasn’t me”)—a moment that will appeal to older kids who can grasp and revel in the humor. Human skin is shown as printer paper white, tan, and blue. Layouts are boisterous yet uncluttered, using text in various sizes, colors, and fonts. Pleasant near-pastel yellow, blue, and purple back up goofy illustrations, sure to draw interest even if the quips go over younger kids’ heads. Some elements, like the desire to receive X-ray vision as a present, will resonate widely with the target audience, though the story largely treads similar ground as Greenfield and Lowery’s I Don’t Want To Read This Book (2021). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A potential gift for fans of the contributors’ earlier work. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-46236-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Very young gardeners will need more information, but for certain picky eaters, the suggested strategy just might work.
A young spinach hater becomes a spinach lover after she has to grow her own in a class garden.
Unable to trade away the seed packet she gets from her teacher for tomatoes, cukes or anything else more palatable, Sylvia reluctantly plants and nurtures a pot of the despised veggie then transplants it outside in early spring. By the end of school, only the plot’s lettuce, radishes and spinach are actually ready to eat (talk about a badly designed class project!)—and Sylvia, once she nerves herself to take a nibble, discovers that the stuff is “not bad.” She brings home an armful and enjoys it from then on in every dish: “And that was the summer Sylvia Spivens said yes to spinach.” Raff uses unlined brushwork to give her simple cartoon illustrations a pleasantly freehand, airy look, and though Pryor skips over the (literally, for spinach) gritty details in both the story and an afterword, she does cover gardening basics in a simple and encouraging way.
Very young gardeners will need more information, but for certain picky eaters, the suggested strategy just might work. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9836615-1-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Readers to Eaters
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2012
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