A clever tale of invention and creativity.
A young inventor designs the perfect prosthetic leg for her after-school activities in DeJong’s illustrated children’s book.
Freckle-faced Lucy, who was born “with one regular leg and one little leg,” has a special talent. She’s an inventor who has a workshop in her closet for building special prosthetic legs. Before school, she debates which one she’ll wear. Her spring leg will be too bouncy, and the flipper on her swimming leg might trip her up in the classroom. Her snowboard leg is out of season. Finally, Lucy decides on her walking leg, which does everything she needs—until it flies off when she kicks a soccer ball too hard. Luckily, a friend catches and returns it, so Lucy can go to dance class. One thing she can’t do in ballet is get her walking leg to point; she returns to her workshop and soon returns with a perfectly pointed, sparkly ballerina leg. The “fancy leg” is just right for all her activities, but especially for ballet. DeJong uses accessible language in a conversational tone to engage young readers. Lucy is a cheerful, smart protagonist who doesn’t let the lack of a pointed toe get her down for long. Instead, she recognizes problems and finds solutions, surrounding herself with supportive friends and family. DeJong captures the protagonist’s attitude in phrases such as “She had a lot more legs than most of her friends.” Lucy’s community readily accepts her differences and values her imagination and skill, which young readers with their own assistive devices may find affirming. Illustrator Reyes captures Lucy’s enthusiasm and inventiveness in her full-color cartoon illustrations. The scenes that Lucy imagines when she pictures wearing the wrong leg capture her humor, and Reyes’ use of lighting gives the images welcome depth. Lucy is depicted with brown skin; other characters have a range of skin tones.
A clever tale of invention and creativity.Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781039196810
Page Count: 28
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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