Fans of Jenny Slate’s Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2011) will find a kindred spirit in the stalwart glacier that eats...
The oft-told tale of a child who yearns for a pet and a creature that craves a human gets a new twist when the latter is a baby glacier.
This chip—off a block named Cecilsmater—latches on to Ruby during a family vacation in Norway. The child’s classmates already taunt her about her unusual parents, so she really doesn't need a glacier tagging along behind her. Mrs. Small designs tiaras; Mr. Small creates topiaries. These artsy adults also tango on the front lawn, leaving Ruby mortified. Her main consolation is derived from the companionship of “The Three Jennifers,” dolls that look and dress exactly like Ruby. She shuns the loyal ice floe and ignores her parents’ encouragement, until Cecil performs a dramatic doll rescue during a thunderstorm—at great personal peril. Harvey’s alliteration adds humor to this saga of tension ’twixt the generations. “ ‘Welcome, Smalls,’ a blue-haired man named Sven sa[ys] severely,” when the family registers for snowmobiles in Horfensnufen. Potter’s watercolor caricatures, with their tiny feet and restrained demeanors, enact their story in scenes with skewed perspectives and strong diagonals, choices that heighten the absurdity. Ultimately, Ruby learns to appreciate her pet’s coolness; consequently, she attracts a new friend, and in her newfound happiness, she relates more lovingly to her family.
Fans of Jenny Slate’s Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2011) will find a kindred spirit in the stalwart glacier that eats pebbles and wears a tiara. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-86773-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
A salubrious object lesson of playing for playing’s sake.
The story of a pig, perhaps a tad delusional but all guns and going for Olympic gold.
Jamieson’s young porker, Boomer, is the first pig to compete in the history of the Animal Olympics. He’s a charger—“Hard work and practice make an Olympic champion”—but still a pig: not as strong as the elephant, as speedy as the cheetah or as brawny as the gorilla. A mean-spirited reporter tries to diminish his hopes, yet Boomer can only see gold dancing before his eyes. And they are wonderful eyes, enormously expressive in his great pig head as he proceeds to get trounced in every event. The reporter needles Boomer after every loss, and Boomer finally snaps when his cannonball fails to impress the diving judges: “Who made you the boss? No fair! Lawsuit, buddy!” He quits. But his mother tells him how proud she is, and he returns for a slam-bang finale. Hope springs eternal; it’s not winning, but how you play the game; you can’t win them all. True, but Boomer makes such a hash of each contest, perhaps it is best just to say that he is a good sport, and good sports make sports good. Though the story doesn’t turn any new ground, Jamieson’s affective artwork, with its brio and dash, endows Boomer with an attractive personality, no matter his flaws.
A salubrious object lesson of playing for playing’s sake. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: July 5, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3536-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A grandfather and his grandson share the sweetness of reminiscence and evoke a bygone era. In his bright yellow car, Grandpa Joe takes Timmy to see the farm where he lived as a boy. Arriving at the dilapidated farmhouse, they see the barn with its caved-in roof, a silo with no top and the rusted hulk of the old red tractor. It is this last, the titular tractor, that launches the true trip back in time to Grandpa Joe’s childhood. As he shares his memories with Timmy, the boy is able to look beyond the rundown reality and see the farm the way it was, the tractor at the heart of all activity. More than just a machine to plow the fields, plant the seed and gather the hay, the tractor brought father and son together. As one, the family got behind the tractor to pick apples in the fall, to sell the vegetables they had planted and to choose a Christmas tree. Garland’s digital illustrations reinforce the sense of nostalgia—Timmy and Grandpa Joe drive past row upon row of houses, identical but for the color except for the old farmhouse. The pages from the past have a brightness to them that is lacking in the pages from the present day. Sure to spark “what was life like…?” questions, this has strong cross-generational appeal. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59078-762-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
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