A fun-filled revamp of the bedtime genre and a humorous choice for the not-quite-sleepy set.
“Please put your hands together for…MAX THE MAGNIFICENT!”
Vaudevillian hyperbole abounds as young magician Max attempts to achieve the impossible—he plans to avoid going to sleep! Star-spangled, whimsical and circus-bright illustrations show the young conjurer as he performs a multitude of tricks, from making milk slowly disappear (eating his bedtime snack) and taming a savage beast (trying to get his dog to sit and stay) to pulling a rabbit from under his bed (gathering his stuffed animals up for the night). But wait, there’s more! “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we strongly advise you NEVER to try this at home… / Max asks for ten—yes, TEN!—bedtime stories. / (His mom says she’ll read two.)” As much fun to read as it is to listen to, this going-to-sleep book hits on all of the necessary bedtime rituals (including tooth brushing) and will provide enjoyment and satisfaction for all concerned; the spot-on ballyhoo is bound to provoke snorts and giggles, while the nicely controlled pace eventually slows to allow all young listeners to gradually hunker down for a good night’s rest.
A fun-filled revamp of the bedtime genre and a humorous choice for the not-quite-sleepy set. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-70822-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts.
A playful counting book also acts as a celebration of family and human diversity.
Shannon’s text is delivered in spare, rhythmic, lilting verse that begins with one and counts up to 10 as it presents different groupings of things and people in individual families, always emphasizing the unitary nature of each combination. “One is six. One line of laundry. One butterfly’s legs. One family.” Gomez’s richly colored pictures clarify and expand on all that the text lists: For “six,” a picture showing six members of a multigenerational family of color includes a line of laundry with six items hanging from it outside of their windows, as well as the painting of a six-legged butterfly that a child in the family is creating. While text never directs the art to depict diverse individuals and family constellations, Gomez does just this in her illustrations. Interracial families are included, as are depictions of men with their arms around each other, and a Sikh man wearing a turban. This inclusive spirit supports the text’s culminating assertion that “One is one and everyone. One earth. One world. One family.”
A visually striking, engaging picture book that sends the message that everyone counts. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-374-30003-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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