Pleasant bedtime reading with unassuming color and morality lessons.
This chapter book for early readers by Australian educators Ireland and Lewer (Literacy for Littlies, 1999) introduces children to colors.
These short stories all center on color themes, opening and closing with tales of rainbows. In between, the works focus on the hues of the spectrum—roughly in ROYGBIV order, although the authors substitute “purple” for “violet”—followed by stories about nonrainbow colors (such as black, turquoise, and gold, among others). Most tales also offer a simple lesson, such as the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer–like “The Little Rainbow Dragon,” in which the titular character is teased by peers for being different until they recognize his unique skill—in this case, breathing rainbow-toned flames. “A Story about Red and Orange” and “A Story about Black” may disturb some younger readers, as they feature a forest fire and scary storm, respectively; however, in both, children work through their fears. Like the dragon, other protagonists feel left out for being different but eventually become accepted. The main characters are primarily white children, but others show a range of skin tones. There are a few anthropomorphic animals and even a tractor with feelings. The inclusion of questions at the ends of some stories (such as “What things can you find that are indigo?”) encourages dialogue between adults and children, and colorful illustrations enhance the text throughout. The farm and country settings in many stories imply a romanticized earlier and simpler time, which may be soothing to young readers but doesn’t break new ground.
Pleasant bedtime reading with unassuming color and morality lessons.Pub Date: July 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5434-0247-6
Page Count: 60
Publisher: XlibrisAU
Review Posted Online: Dec. 19, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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