An amusing romp that will have landlubbers and scurvy sea dogs alike giggling.
When a very dim pirate mistakes a penguin for a parrot, confusion ensues.
When a small penguin slips on an icy cliff and lands on the deck of a sailing ship, the tan-skinned pirate assumes that it’s a longed-for parrot with faded plumage—remedying that with a paint pot. The penguin is not amused and, rather than cooperatively perch on the pirate’s shoulder, furiously attacks the pirate. The pirate tries to elicit some parrot-talk, producing a lexicon of pirate slang: “Batten down the hatches?” “Mizzenmast?” "Hornswoggle?” “Doubloons?” “Booty?” When the pirate offers a cracker, the penguin spits it out, and the irate pirate responds with anger (“SNOGGERS!” “ ’Tis Mutiny!”). But when the penguin walks the plank, the pirate is remorseful (“I be a rotting rapscallion!”). Then the penguin returns with a welcome gift of fish, and the pirate concludes that, strange as the “parrot” seems, “I like ye just the way ye arrrrrrrr.” Dialogue balloons are black with white type; splashes of parrot-paint color enliven the neutral ship setting. Varied compositions often feature small insets on large spreads; this one will be a great read-aloud to an audience close enough to see the images. The solitary pirate is a cartoon figure, drawn with every stereotypical accoutrement except an eye patch: peg leg, hook hand, gray beard, and 18th-century attire. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An amusing romp that will have landlubbers and scurvy sea dogs alike giggling. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 30, 2023
ISBN: 9781645677123
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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