Delicious, nutritious absurdity.
Three stories with vegetable protagonists make up this quirky French import.
In the first story, a patch of leeks dreams of adventure to the far reaches of the Earth—the North Pole, the South Pole, and the West Pole are all named as possible destinations. Then a cow passing by tricks the naïve leeks into believing it’s one of Santa’s reindeer (from the North Pole!) and entices them to file out of the garden through a gap in the fence. Ultimately, the cow is more like a wily folk-tale fox: a page-turn reveals the leeks marching right into its waiting, open mouth. In the next story, the carrots laugh at the leeks’ demise but then worry that the “reindeer” may return for them. They tunnel through the earth to escape, only to end up in a cavern full of bats, who then take them to a party at a rabbit warren. The twists and turns of the stories are humorously bizarre and culminate in the third story, featuring a battle among the carrots, leeks, and other vegetables, until they all end up in a big pot of soup. The translation offers children both rich vocabulary and Gallic humor: "Bats. Right. An anguished murmur passes among the carrots." Barrier’s ink drawings employ energetic, humorous line that recalls James Marshall in its ability to express broad emotion in just a few strokes.
Delicious, nutritious absurdity. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-35942-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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