by Mary Ann McCabe Riehle ; illustrated by Mary Reaves Uhles ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2015
Who wouldn’t want to join this table? All you have to do is hang a spoon from your nose.
The little-kids’ table is where the fun is. Duh! Grown-ups can keep their fancy-schmancy dishes and the icky green stuff they put on them.
At this celebration of the family meal divided into adult and kid tables, much of the charm resides in Riehle’s unselfconscious couplets—“Mom piles food high on all of our plates, / making us try the foods we know we’ll hate”—combined with the creative mischief afoot at that table. This is not a food fight à la Animal House. It’s making goofy faces out of the gross food on the plate or hanging a spoon on your nose or putting peas in your cousin’s milk—that is if there is any milk left after squirting it out your nose during a fit of laughter. Yeah, there will be some cleaning up, but not a week’s worth. A healthy measure of background business complements the main event, like when the Labradoodle makes good its entry and does what Labradoodles do best: knock stuff over. And there are what can only be called sweet touches, like Mom going cross-eyed from all the crackling energy or one twin pouring ketchup into a teacup balanced on the other twin’s nose. Uhles’ artwork doesn’t stretch much, but the color is as solid as that of old, wooden blocks. She presents a modern American extended family, with a variety of skin tones and ethnicities in evidence.
Who wouldn’t want to join this table? All you have to do is hang a spoon from your nose. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-58536-913-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
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by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015
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
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SEEN & HEARD
by Candice Ransom ; illustrated by Erika Meza ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 25, 2015
A warm and welcome story for emerging readers and their families.
Pumpkins star in this family-centered early reader.
Sketched in rhyming, easy-to-read couplets, this familiar autumn setting is made even warmer by the sweet family that is making a trip to the pumpkin farm. “Sunny day. Pack a lunch. / In the treetops squirrels munch.” So begins the story of a black mother and father and their young son and daughter. They find their special pumpkins and return home for carving, just in time for trick-or-treating. Mother and father are shown walking hand in hand or gently guiding their youngsters, who are very excited to pick out the perfect gourd. Read aloud, the predictable rhyme scans well, making this a book for emerging readers to read over and over, gaining confidence each time. The full-color illustrations, full of oranges and yellows, match the words, providing important visual cues. Little ones will laugh when the younger brother initially finds a huge pumpkin and rolls it over the hill like a bowling ball. “Thump! Thump! Thump! Then… / Uh-oh!” Eventually, he finds one just the right size for carving. Children of color are remarkably absent in the easy-reader stacks, so it’s an especially welcome treat to see them in this rural setting. Preschool and kindergarten teachers will want to add this to their collections.
A warm and welcome story for emerging readers and their families. (Early reader. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51341-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2015
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by Candice Ransom ; illustrated by Nan Lawson
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by Candice Ransom ; illustrated by Christine Grove
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by Candice Ransom ; illustrated by Christine Grove
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