Unexploited novelty aside, a clever improvisation with neither literal nor figurative strings attached.
Two instruments wind up playing beautiful music together—after a few sour notes.
Thanks to a tube of loose beads embedded in the spine, the book itself turns into a rhythm instrument when shaken—but there’s no (overt) connection made between this gimmick and the actual story. All is harmony between Trumpet and Clarinet at first…but then in swaggers Oboe to turn Clarinet’s head (“ ‘Is that a double reed?’ gasped Clarinet. ‘I know, right?!’ said Oboe”). Oboe is followed by Trombone, Flute, and others so that soon the band room is dominated by rival camps of brass and woodwinds. At last, though, following some painful discord, Clarinet hears Saxophone’s jazzy honks and realizes that Trumpet’s bright “buzz and blast” would make ideal harmony. Trumpet responds to her overture by agreeing to be tuned, and soon all the instruments (with a few newcomers of the percussion persuasion) have found a new groove. Herzog pastes broadly expressive facial features on the instruments and stands them up in stylish postures on stick limbs. In the climactic ensemble, each of the three coupled anthropomorphic pairs consists of one light- and one dark-colored instrument. Whether there’s anything to be made of that, there’s a bright, infectious energy to the illustrations that plays well with the narrative’s musical idiom.
Unexploited novelty aside, a clever improvisation with neither literal nor figurative strings attached. (Novelty picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: March 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-10747-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A spellbinding tale that will never brown or fade with time.
Soup is always the correct solution.
Evergreen, a young squirrel who lives high in a tree in Buckthorn Forest, is afraid of most things, but top of the list is thunderstorms. When her mother, who makes magical soup, asks her to take an acorn full of soup to Granny Oak, who is ill with the flu, Evergreen is afraid that she won’t be brave enough to do it. But she knows she must—and that she must be careful not to spill a drop, as “Granny Oak will need every bit of it to get better.” Setting off, the scared squirrel encounters a menagerie of adventures and forest creatures in her journey. It’s a wild, imaginative read and one that twists and turns like a forest path, with unexpected surprises along the way. Cordell is a masterful storyteller, and readers will love following Evergreen’s journey as she grows into a more confident squirrel. The artwork is the real star of the show, however; there’s a hint of Sendak in the characters’ humorous expressions and in the timeless pen-and-watercolor backgrounds that cry out to be examined in detail. Educators and caregivers will love reading this story aloud in installments, and readers will adore seeing what Evergreen encounters in her travels. A hint of future stories will tantalize readers, who will close the book eager for a new volume to devour.
A spellbinding tale that will never brown or fade with time. (Early chapter book. 6-8)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-31717-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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