Two siblings travel from a high mountaintop to the sea’s deeps, from a circus to deep space, in this tongue-in-cheek tribute to little sisters, and to red VW minibuses, everywhere. Self-absorbed big sister Patty drives and narrates, bossily directing little sister to stay inside and out of danger at each stop, while she charges off to fight a fire, join the clowns, and generally have all the fun. But the illustrations, which feature pop-eyed, smiling cartoon figures and big-sister-style labels (“funniest clown!” next to “not so funny clown” for instance) tell a different tale, as little sister silently dances atop a spouting whale, diverts an oncoming meteor, and, in clown makeup, hefts a big cream pie. In the final scene, the sisters’ blocky conveyance turns out to be up on cinderblocks—but that makes its travels no less exciting, nor less hilarious the disconnect between the pictures and big sister’s slanted version of events. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: March 8, 2005
ISBN: 0-375-82939-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2005
Bits of real litter and found bric-a-brac in Reid’s plasticine subterranean scenes add an air of authenticity to this grand tale of a mouse who leaves his cozy subway station nest to find the fabled “Tunnel’s End.” Sparked by elders’ stories of beauty and danger in a roofless land, young Nib sets off into the dark, encountering both hazards and companionship along the way, and ultimately emerging beneath the stars to find his goal exactly as terrifying and splendid as he has imagined it. Between lines of silvery track and beneath rows of commuters’ shoes, cuffs and ankles, big-eared mice with combed, furry bodies forage on two legs for scraps while trains hurtle by. Seen from mouse-eye level, the grimy, wonderfully detailed setting adds a tongue-in-cheek air, as well as making a properly vivid backdrop for this intrepid venture into the unknown. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-439-72827-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
Leaving dad to paint the kitchen, a child trails her mom, little Harry and Wilf the Wonderdog out to the grocery store in this enticing invitation to take the long way ’round. Not even their car’s breakdown stops these determined shoppers: On they forge, battling heavy rain and snow, trekking up a steep mountain, through thick jungle—“Mom saved us from the snakes. Wilf saved us from the crocodiles. I saved us from the cheeky monkeys”—and desert, down a river and all the way across the sea. Using a bright palette and energetic brushstrokes, Amstutz portrays the expedition, stroller and all, blithely coping with one challenge after another as they traverse a succession of land- and seascapes before washing up at last on a coastal store that, happily, stays open after dark. And the trip home is accomplished with the turn of a final page—a perfect ending for a child’s transformation of a common errand into a decidedly uncommon outing. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7636-2586-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2005
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