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SLEEPY STORIES

Name: SLEEPY STORIES
Author: Mario Levrero
ISBN: 978-1-939810-84-7

by Mario Levrero ; illustrated by Diego Bianki ; translated by Alicia López ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 6, 2021

Wildly imaginative, surreal, beautiful…in a word, this Argentine import is fabulous.

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Young Nicolás has a voracious appetite for stories and no sympathy for a profoundly sleepy storyteller.

In a work told as a scripted dialogue, a storyteller identified only as “Me” spins the yarns to Nicolás, often yawning and nodding off midstory. But Nicolás is ever demanding, wanting those sleepy stories now. The six tales, told over three days, are all extremely bizarre. A man is too sleepy to make it home, so he curls up inside his umbrella until a heavy rain causes him to nearly drown. Another man stretches one part of his body at a time until his head reaches home and he pulls the rest of himself into bed. After more tales involving a skateboard and a long swim, monkeys and seals, robbers, and long bus rides, Nicolás asks for yet another, and it all comes to an abrupt, unexplained end. Bianki’s equally strange, deeply hued, full- and double-page illustrations alternate between depictions of the tales and scenes of the characters. Nicolás and “Me” seem to be a pair of birds with tuxedo tails, wearing shoes and socks on their long legs. They are seen at a table, atop a peacock with its egg alongside, in a tree, on a dog’s back, and in other odd positions, with “Me” holding a book, perhaps this very one. The tales’ actions are vividly depicted, with the addition of many odd bits and pieces floating through. Young readers and their perplexed grown-ups will want to read and reread again and again.

Wildly imaginative, surreal, beautiful…in a word, this Argentine import is fabulous. (Picture book. 5-9)

Pub Date: July 6, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-939810-84-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Elsewhere Editions

Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

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DANGER! TIGER CROSSING

From the Fantastic Frame series , Vol. 1

by Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Samantha Kallis ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 26, 2016

Eeney meeney miney moe, catch this series before it goes! (Adventure. 7-9)

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Two kids get up close and personal with some great works of art in this first in a new series.

Tiger Brooks is used to his little sister’s fantastical stories. So when the top-hatted orange pig she describes turns out to be not only real, but a next-door neighbor, Tiger enlists the help of his kooky new friend, Luna, to investigate. It turns out the pig works for the reclusive painter Viola Dots. Years ago a magical picture frame swallowed up her only son, and she’s searched for him in artworks ever since. When Tiger’s tinkering starts the magic up again, he and Luna are sucked into a reproduction of Henri Rousseau’s Surprised! or Tiger in a Tropical Storm, hungry predator and all. After meeting and failing to rescue Viola’s son in this adventure, the series is set up for the intrepid pair to infiltrate other classic paintings in the future. Backmatter provides information on the real Rousseau and his life. Oliver keeps the plot itself snappy and peppy. While there are few surprises, there’s also an impressive lack of lag time. This is helped in no small part by Kallis’ art, which goes from pen-and-ink drawings to full-blown color images once the kids cross over into the painting. Tiger is a white boy, and Luna is a dark-haired Latina.

Eeney meeney miney moe, catch this series before it goes! (Adventure. 7-9)

Pub Date: April 26, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-448-48087-9

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap

Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CASE OF THE MISSING TADPOLE
by Henry Winkler ; illustrated by Dan Santat & by Lin Oliver

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CASE OF THE STRANGE SPLASH
by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Dan Santat

- BOOK REVIEW
HOLLYWOOD VS. THE GALAXY
by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Ethan Nicolle

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GROWING HOME

by Beth Ferry ; illustrated by Eric Fan & Terry Fan ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 27, 2025

Charming.

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An assortment of unusual characters form friendships and help each other become their best selves.

Mr. and Mrs. Tupper, who live at Number 3 Ramshorn Drive, are antiquarians. Their daughter, Jillian, loves and cares for a plant named Ivy, who has “three speckles on each leaf and three letters in her name.” Toasty, the grumpy goldfish, lives in an octagonal tank and wishes he were Jillian’s favorite; when Arthur the spider arrives inside an antique desk, he brings wisdom and insight. Ollie the violet plant, Louise the bee, and Sunny the canary each arrive with their own quirks and problems to solve. Each character has a distinct personality and perspective; sometimes they clash, but more often they learn to empathize, see each other’s points of view, and work to help one another. They also help the Tupper family with bills and a burglar. The Fan brothers’ soft-edged, old-fashioned, black-and-white illustrations depict Toasty and Arthur with tiny hats; Ivy and Ollie have facial expressions on their plant pots. The Tuppers have paper-white skin and dark hair. The story comes together like a recipe: Simple ingredients combine, transform, and rise into something wonderful. In its matter-of-fact wisdom, rich vocabulary (often defined within the text), hint of magic, and empathetic nonhuman characters who solve problems in creative ways, this delightful work is reminiscent of Ferris by Kate DiCamillo, Our Friend Hedgehog by Lauren Castillo, and Ivy Lost and Found by Cynthia Lord and Stephanie Graegin.

Charming. (Fiction. 6-9)