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EPPIE THE ELEPHANT

Name: EPPIE THE ELEPHANT
Author: Livingstone Crouse
ISBN: 978-1-68412-377-3

(WHO WAS ALLERGIC TO PEANUTS)

by Livingstone Crouse ; illustrated by Steven Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 3, 2018

The topic is worthy of exploration, but the forced rhymes muddle the impact.

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A young pachyderm worries how friends will react to her peanut allergy on the first day of school.

There are plenty of things to be anxious about when school starts. Eppie the elephant is worried about them all, but mostly she is concerned that her classmates will find out that she is allergic to peanuts. Just one whiff can trigger a reaction, so she must sit in a special “ ‘Nut-Free’ zone” at lunch. None of the friends that she makes that morning can sit with her because they each have some form of nuts in their lunchboxes. Eppie’s fears come true when her friends laugh or stare at her for being different. But the next day, her friends apologize for not understanding and bring tuna for lunch instead. This effort should be lauded for exploring the emotional side of an allergy, but the clunky rhymes are at times grimace-inducing: “As Eppie stood between them, / they explained how she’d been missed. / They swore they’d make it up to her, / and why she shouldn’t resist.” Brown’s cheery anthropomorphized animals populate the spreads, with tiny visual asides (a mouse sits on a stack of books in order to reach the desk; a pig plunges its snout directly into a tray of slop for lunch) that brighten the textual missteps.

The topic is worthy of exploration, but the forced rhymes muddle the impact. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: July 3, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-68412-377-3

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Silver Dolphin

Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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IZZY GIZMO AND THE INVENTION CONVENTION

From the Izzy Gizmo series

by Pip Jones ; illustrated by Sara Ogilvie ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2020

A disappointing follow-up.

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Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).

While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.

A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: March 1, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Peachtree

Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
IZZY GIZMO
by Pip Jones ; illustrated by Sara Ogilvie

- BOOK REVIEW
DADDY'S SANDWICH
by Pip Jones ; illustrated by Laura Hughes

- BOOK REVIEW
THE INVISIBLE CAT!
by Pip Jones ; illustrated by Ella Okstad

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RUBY FINDS A WORRY

From the Big Bright Feelings series

by Tom Percival ; illustrated by Tom Percival ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2019

A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their...

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Ruby is an adventurous and happy child until the day she discovers a Worry.

Ruby barely sees the Worry—depicted as a blob of yellow with a frowny unibrow—at first, but as it hovers, the more she notices it and the larger it grows. The longer Ruby is affected by this Worry, the fewer colors appear on the page. Though she tries not to pay attention to the Worry, which no one else can see, ignoring it prevents her from enjoying the things that she once loved. Her constant anxiety about the Worry causes the bright yellow blob to crowd Ruby’s everyday life, which by this point is nearly all washes of gray and white. But at the playground, Ruby sees a boy sitting on a bench with a growing sky-blue Worry of his own. When she invites the boy to talk, his Worry begins to shrink—and when Ruby talks about her own Worry, it also grows smaller. By the book’s conclusion, Ruby learns to control her Worry by talking about what worries her, a priceless lesson for any child—or adult—conveyed in a beautifully child-friendly manner. Ruby presents black, with hair in cornrows and two big afro-puff pigtails, while the boy has pale skin and spiky black hair.

A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their feelings (. (Picture book. 4-6)