With its somewhat saccharine illustrations and only serviceable text—and far better versions available—this can easily be...
A slimmed-down adaptation of the Andersen tale about appearances, this includes most of the essentials usually present in today’s retellings.
With no mention of the original author, the story is told simply; the only hint of the barnyard satire found in Andersen’s version is represented by the farm animals’ speech-balloon commentaries on the duckling’s looks. There is humor in the illustrations, especially in the hatching scene with its blue-speckled egg shown in three phases with “two funny feet, / two waving wings, / and one bumpy beak.” Lots of little creatures, the likes of insects, worms, snails, and butterflies, appear in the bright, bland Disney-esque paintings, in addition to the bigger animals. In contrast to the original, the “ugly duckling” doesn’t take action and run away because of the taunts he receives, instead becoming stuck in a mole’s tunnel when the duck family prepares to fly south for the winter. The happy ending is heralded by a double-page spread of two swans face to face, with their curving necks almost forming a heart. Large-eyed fish, frogs, and dragonflies surround the handsome birds. There’s nothing new or special here.
With its somewhat saccharine illustrations and only serviceable text—and far better versions available—this can easily be skipped. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-84869-037-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Loewen’s story is a simple snapshot of kindergarten graduation day, and it stays true to form, with Yoshikawa’s artwork resembling photos that might be placed in an album—and the illustrations cheer, a mixed media of saturated color, remarkable depth and joyful expression. The author comfortably captures the hesitations of making the jump from kindergarten to first grade without making a fuss about it, and she makes the prospect something worth the effort. Trepidation aside, this is a reminder of how much fun kindergarten was: your own cubbyhole, the Halloween parade, losing a tooth, “the last time we’ll ever sit criss-cross applesauce together.” But there is also the fledgling’s pleasure at shucking off the past—swabbing the desks, tossing out the stubbiest crayons, taking the pictures off the wall—and surging into the future. Then there is graduation itself: donning the mortarboards, trooping into the auditorium—“Mr. Meyer starts playing a serious song on the piano. It makes me want to cry. It makes me want to march”—which will likely have a few adult readers feeling the same. (Picture book. 4-5)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5807-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
This long-running British series (the first Little Princess book was published in 1986) has been adapted for television there. In this installment, her dad (in a jacket and tie, wearing his crown) has read her a story and is about to turn off the light when the Little Princess shouts, “I WANT MY LIGHT ON!”—with her entire face subsumed into one of those scarlet, tooth-edged mouths. She’s not afraid of the dark but of ghosts. Dad checks under the bed, and General, Admiral, Doctor and Maid assure her there are no ghosts. The Little Princess’s room is a bright yellow, but readers see glimpses of the castle’s arches and stone steps past her doorway—and then there is a little ghost behind her bedpost, with a skeleton toy the shape of Little Princess’s own stuffie. Ghost and Princess scare each other, and he dashes off to his mother, who, as she stirs her pot of frog, worm and spider stew, assures him that there are no such things as little girls.... The pictures are clear, bold and exaggerated to great humorous effect. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7613-6443-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Andersen Press USA
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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