Pure summer fun.
A child and their mother take a trip to the city pool on a hot day.
The sounds of clanking in the locker room, a pause to apply sunblock, the muffling of noises under the water—everything about this outing is thrilling. The young narrator (the tale is told in first person, although there’s no specific character identified as the narrator within the illustrations) notes that swimmers have various body and skin types (“even sunburned skin—OUCH!”), and everyone has different ways of entering the water—some make their way in slowly, one toe at a time, while others dive right in. Everyone swims or lounges in their preferred manner. They float, splash (pausing for the lifeguard’s whistle), flip, dive, and swim through legs like dolphins. For most of this, the swimmers are united (“I” switching to “we”), but never more so than when a cloud covers the sun, everyone waiting until the sun shines again, and there’s a collective cheer! The ritual of leaving is just as important—one more “CANNONBALL!” before everyone gets ice cream at a waiting truck. The merriment, beauty, and comforting routines of a pool day are on full display in this celebration of an urban summer tradition. Both the chatty, child-friendly text and the gouache, colored pencil, and digitally finished artwork ooze exuberance; Cummins’ saturated colors and energetic, curving waves are utterly inviting. The cast is racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Pure summer fun. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9781534499232
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Whether they’re counting scores of peas, enjoying the rhymes and puns or relishing the funny visual quirks, families are...
After an alphabetical, rhyming tour de force (LMNO Peas, 2010), Baker’s energetic pea pack is back—this time, to count by ones and 10s.
Baker sidesteps the trickiness of rhyming the numerals by selecting a repeating word for each short verse. “ONE pea searching—look, look, look, / TWO peas fishing—hook, hook, hook.” Those numerals rise sky-high (to peas, at least) to dominate the digitally composed visuals, often serving as props for the frenzy of vegetative activity. At “TEN peas building—pound, pound, pound,” the peas erect a wooden platform around the numeral—mainly, it would seem, as an excuse for exuberantly hammering dozens of nails. Baker circumvents those oft-pesky ’teens in one deft double-page spread: “Eleven to nineteen—skip, skip, skip!” Then it’s a double-page spread per decade, with peas traveling, napping, watching fireworks and more. “SEVENTY peas singing” provide a bevy of details to spy: A fab foursome (the Peatles) rocks out above a chorus and director. Nearby, a barbershop quartet, a Wagnerian soloist, a showering pea and a dancing “Peayoncé” add to the fun.
Whether they’re counting scores of peas, enjoying the rhymes and puns or relishing the funny visual quirks, families are sure to devour Baker’s latest winner. Totally ap-pea-ling! (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 24, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4551-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
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