Amusing and accessible.
Moby Shinobi, a young ninja, is eager to use his many skills to help Farmer Bob with his myriad chores.
Ready to kick, spin, jab, jump, and run, Moby has good intentions, but his “help” usually ends in disastrous upheaval on the farm. His flip-and-swipe method of collecting eggs leaves shards and goo all over the coop, along with some very disturbed chickens. Ninja spinning while scooping Pitchfork Pete’s hay has everyone sneezing. Jumping with pails of slop for the pigs creates a muddy mess in the pen. Seeing the results of his good intentions, Moby laments “I did my ninja best you see. / I wish there was a job for me.” Colorful digital artwork with an animation aesthetic depicts farm animals and humans alike with oversized oval eyes reflecting the astonishment caused by Moby’s actions. Readable rhyming couplets set up the action, which is captured in sequences of one-word action verbs that accompany vignettes that depict the accumulating chaos. For example, in trying to collect eggs, Moby’s “FLIP! / SWIPE!” is followed by the chickens’ “SQUAWK! / CRACK!” Readers should laugh along with the antics, empathize with Farmer Bob’s dismay, and cheer in the end when Moby’s skills finally come in handy. Moby and Farmer Bob are light-skinned; Pitchfork Pete has brown skin.
Amusing and accessible. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Dec. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-93537-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
Dog lovers and young Dr. Moreaus alike will guffaw.
Split pages allow mixing and matching sections of 10 purebred canines.
Forget cockapoos and labradoodles—flipping the three segments here back and forth makes for some truly unlikely hybrids: “I’m a Bulldog— / Yorkshire Terrier— / Great Dane mix”; “I’m a Komondor— / Greyhound— / Poodle mix”; “I’m a Dachshund— / Shar-Pei— / Dalmatian mix.” Ball (Flip-O-Storic, 2011) cranks up the drollery with a set of big, handsome pooches drawn and colored to set off their distinctive characteristics, posed naturalistically against plain yellow backgrounds, and looking up or out with doggy devotion. She also adds the occasional tail-pulling puppy, silly hat, or other comical side business. In addition to the identifying captions, Garczynski contributes a table of descriptive information about each breed at the beginning. This includes to-scale silhouettes that are helpful since all of the interior dogs are rendered the same size so that the transitions more or less match up. (Although the Yorkie’s stubby forelegs still make a peculiar mismatch with the lanky hind limbs of the Great Dane.) Also, each sturdy strip features a “personal” observation, such as the Dalmatian’s “I’m known for my distinctive spots. If I open my mouth, you’ll even see spots in there.” Aside from the note of condescension in the Shar-Pei’s claim that its tongue “was once thought to ward off evil spirits,” these last are at least innocuous and sometimes informative.
Dog lovers and young Dr. Moreaus alike will guffaw. (Novelty picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7892-1310-5
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Abbeville Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Damp.
A good friend can change your life.
Duck loves settling down with a hot beverage when he reads, but that’s the only liquid for him—he doesn’t like getting wet. As a result, he dresses in a yellow rain slicker constantly and spends rainy days inside with the shutters drawn. This solitary existence continues until one night when a particularly bad storm creates a hole in Duck’s roof. When he sets out to investigate repairing it, he comes face to face with a lost frog on his doorstep. Even though Frog loves the water, the two develop a friendship through a shared love of reading. Frog eventually finds his way home, but the two have bonded, and Duck invites Frog to join him as a new roommate. Although the story’s soft cartoon illustrations are amusing—Duck peddling his bicycle in his slicker, boots, and sou’wester will elicit smiles—they can’t save the superficial message of the story. Duck’s phobia is never directly addressed, but once Frog moves in permanently, the rain slicker vanishes, so there’s a bit of a visual resolution. Books addressing new friendships are always needed, but the characters need to be developed to attract and inspire readers. This pale imitation of Oliver Jeffers’ Lost and Found (2006) doesn’t have the depth needed to carry the message. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-15.8-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Damp. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: March 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-8917-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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