A playful, self-aware picture book that has a lot of read-aloud potential.
“Once upon a time, there was a blank page,” begins this picture book, with black type set on a white double-page spread.
On the very next double-page spread, five vaguely animallike characters in solid colors appear. Although no one knows “how they got there,” or even why, four of the five characters assume that the otherwise empty page means that they are in a book and that they need to wait for a story to begin. When the fifth character, a pink rabbit with a blue backpack, suggests they play, the others shush the rabbit, saying, “Can’t you see we’re busy?” and “There isn’t time to play.” While these four characters wait politely for the story to arrive on the recto, the pink rabbit begins to draw on the verso. Comedy ensues: The pink rabbit draws a dinosaur, a treehouse, and penguins in a hot air balloon—among other things—on the verso, while the four other characters (facing away from the verso) politely wait for the story to start. (“In the old days stories used to arrive on time,” one sighs.) Coppo’s simple storyline is reminiscent of (a slightly less absurd) Waiting for Godot; the pink rabbit’s innovative, crayon-based illustrations reinforce the importance of creating your own stories rather than waiting for them to happen.
A playful, self-aware picture book that has a lot of read-aloud potential. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911171-66-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
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BOOK REVIEW
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Young readers will be “antsy” to join the hero on her satisfying escapade.
An ant explores her world.
Addie Ant’s ready for adventure. Despite some trepidation about leaving the Tomato Bed, where she lives with her aunt, she plucks up her courage and ventures forth across the garden to the far side of the shed. On her journey, she meets her pal Lewis Ladybug, who greets her warmly, points the way, and offers sage advice. When Addie arrives at her destination, she’s welcomed by lovely Beatrix Butterfly and enjoys an “ant-tastic” helping of watermelon. Beatrix also provides Addie with take-home treats and a map for the “Cricket Express,” which will take her straight home. Arriving at the terminal, Addie’s delighted to meet another friend, Cleo Cricket, whose carriage service returns Addie home in “two hops.” After eating a warm tomato soup dinner, Addie falls asleep and dreams of future exploits. Adorable though not terribly original, this story brims with sensuous pleasures, both textual and visual. Kids who declare that they dislike fruits or veggies may find their mouths watering at the mentions and sights of luscious tomatoes, peas, beans, watermelons, berries, and other foodstuffs; insect-averse readers may likewise think differently after encountering these convivial, wide-eyed characters. And those flowers and herbs everywhere! The highlights are the colors that burst from the pages. Addie’s an endearing, empowering character who reassures children they’ll be able to take those first independent steps successfully.
Young readers will be “antsy” to join the hero on her satisfying escapade. (author’s note about ants) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781797228914
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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BOOK REVIEW
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