The affordable price of this app makes it a low-risk investment, and parents may find the story helpful in stimulating...
A well-meaning but weak story about dealing with bullies.
Bullying is certainly a timely topic to cover with kids, and this app gets props for tackling it. A farmer named Harvest finds Buck the banker digging for treasure on his property. When Harvest protests, Buck responds by calling him names, threatening to slander him and pelting him with ears of corn. Harvest takes Buck to arbitration with Chief Tatupu, who gives Harvest’s journal to Buck so he’ll understand Harvest’s feelings and see the error of his ways. Predictably, Buck is enlightened, repents and the two become the best of friends. Telling a person in authority about a problem is an important step, but the resolution in this story is wildly idealistic. In reality, getting a bully to understand one’s feelings rarely results in a cessation of mistreatment, which begs the question, what is one to do when the bully doesn’t care at all about the pain he or she is inflicting? In terms of interaction and animation, there are a few standard bells and whistles—falling leaves, animals that are hiding, a “game” that helps Harvest dodge the corn—but most tactile elements are rudimentary and lackluster.
The affordable price of this app makes it a low-risk investment, and parents may find the story helpful in stimulating conversation about bullying. But they’ll likely need to fill in a lot of holes. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Midlandia Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
This frenetic ode to fatherhood is predictable fare but may please series fans.
It’s time to look for the elusive Daddysaurus.
In this latest installment in the seemingly never-ending series about a group of diverse kids attempting to trap mythical creatures, the youngsters are now on the lookout for a big mauve dinosaur with an emblazoned D on his stomach and a superhero cape. The fast-moving Daddysaurus is always on the go; he will be difficult to catch. Armed with blueprints of possible ideas, the kids decide which traps to set. As in previous works, ones of the sticky variety seem popular. They cover barbells with fly paper (Daddysaurus like to exercise) and spread glue on the handle of a shovel (Daddysaurus also likes to garden). One clever trick involves tempting Daddysaurus with a drawing of a hole, taped to the wall, because he fixes everything that breaks. Daddysaurus is certainly engaged in the children’s lives, not a workaholic or absent, but he does fall into some standard tropes associated with fathers. The rhyming quatrains stumble at times but for the most part bounce along. Overall, though, text and art feel somewhat formulaic and likely will tempt only devotees of the series. The final page of the book (after Daddysaurus is caught with love) has a space for readers to write a note or draw a picture of their own Daddysaurus. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
This frenetic ode to fatherhood is predictable fare but may please series fans. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-72826-618-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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