A community celebration for audiences that appreciate stories that are on the long side.
A community bands together to revitalize a dilapidated house so old and young can gather and socialize in this Japanese import, the first in a 13-book (so far) series to be translated into English.
When Miss Flora and Mother put their heads together to come up with a way to raise money for repairs to the old beloved community cafe, their plan to hold a homemade cake contest piques the interest of twins Timothy and Sarah, who each want to enter their own creations. While the premise may initially raise excitement in young readers and listeners, the sheer length of the text and the stilted translation will likely dampen it: “That was when they realized that they were not sure how to make cake dough. So Mother taught them and helped them make the dough.” Problems are solved almost as soon as they are identified (“And in the end, the old house stood revived all new like a wonder”), and one intriguing mystery involving an elderly man, his sick wife and the cafe they used to run is never satisfactorily resolved. Indeed, readers who aren’t paying attention may miss this reference altogether. Still, the idea of a community coming together for a cause is a popular one, and the mouthwatering spreads of cake after cake, all elaborately decorated, are hard to resist. Basho’s anthropomorphized mice are sweetly old-fashioned in their dress, mannerisms and surroundings.
A community celebration for audiences that appreciate stories that are on the long side. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-940842-02-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Museyon
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2015
An effective early chapter book conveyed in a slightly overdone gag.
Epistolary dispatches from the eternal canine/feline feud.
Simon the cat is angry. He had done a good job taking care of his boy, Andy, but now that Andy’s parents are divorced, a dog named Baxter has moved into Andy’s dad’s house. Simon believes that there isn’t enough room in Andy’s life for two furry friends, so he uses the power of the pen to get Baxter to move out. Inventively for the early-chapter-book format, the story is told in letters written back and forth; Simon’s are impeccably spelled on personalized stationery while Baxter’s spelling slowly improves through the letters he scrawls on scraps of paper. A few other animals make appearances—a puffy-lipped goldfish who for some reason punctuates her letter with “Blub…blub…” seems to be the only female character (cued through stereotypical use of eyelashes and red lipstick), and a mustachioed snail ferries the mail to and fro. White-appearing Andy is seen playing with both animals as a visual background to the text, as is his friend Noah (a dark-skinned child who perhaps should not be nicknamed “N Man”). Cat lovers will appreciate Simon’s prickliness while dog aficionados will likely enjoy Baxter’s obtuse enthusiasm, and all readers will learn about the time and patience it takes to overcome conflict and jealousy with someone you dislike.
An effective early chapter book conveyed in a slightly overdone gag. (Fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4492-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Silly reads for new readers to dig into.
A turnip-loving duck and its friends defend their garden.
Alas, the duck, sheep, dog, and donkey immediately discover the eponymous pest in the garden when it (a groundhog?) eats a row of beans. The duck is frantic that turnips are next, but instead the pest eats the sheep’s favorite crop: corn. Peas occupy the next row, and the pest gobbles them up, too. Instead of despairing, however, the donkey cries, “Yippee! He ate ALL THE PEAS!” and catching the others’ puzzled looks, continues, “I don’t like peas.” After this humorous twist, the only uneaten row is sown with turnips, and the duck leaps to devour them before the pest can do so. In a satisfying, funny conclusion, the duck beams when the dog, sheep, and donkey resolve to plant a new garden and protect it with a fence, only to find out that it will exclude not just the groundhog, but the duck, too. A companion release, What Is Chasing Duck?, has the same brand of humor and boldly outlined figures rendered in a bright palette, but its storyline doesn’t come together as well since it’s unclear why the duck is scared and why the squirrel that was chasing it doesn’t recognize the others when they turn and chase him at book’s end.
Silly reads for new readers to dig into. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-94165-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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