Next book

ALICE FROM DALLAS

The clever ending is a yee-haw moment that will rope in readers as quick as tumbling tumbleweeds.

Grab your cowboy hat and boots and saddle up for one rootin’, tootin’ story featuring Alice from Dallas.

Dallas, Pa., that is. Every day Alice rides her pony (the wooden kind) to school and entertains her class with tales of the Wild West. She reckons she’s “the only cowgirl in all of Pennsylvania.” That is, until Lexis, a “real” cowgirl from Texas, comes to town and treads on Alice’s turf. There’s bound to be a showdown between the two girls—at noon, of course, on the playground. While Lexis acts out a stagecoach holdup and throws a lasso better, Alice challenges by dancing a sprightly Texas two-step. When Lexis tries to show her up by duplicating the twirling moves, she falls down and hurts her foot. The next day, Alice feels guilty and visits Lexis to say she’s sorry. Each girl acknowledges the other’s skill, and it turns out that two cowgirls are better than one. The comic watercolor-and-ink illustrations don’t miss a beat in capturing the amusing rivalry that turns into friendship. Pigtailed Alice sports plaid shirts and jeans; blonde Lexis is a sparklier sort—a rhinestone cowgirl, if you will—who dresses down with a Lone Star T-shirt.

The clever ending is a yee-haw moment that will rope in readers as quick as tumbling tumbleweeds. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: March 11, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-4197-0790-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Abrams

Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014

Next book

HOME

Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.

Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”

Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.

Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014

Next book

I WISH YOU MORE

Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.

A collection of parental wishes for a child.

It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.

Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015

Close Quickview