The title on the cover is a clue to the tale—“JUNK” is rendered in a rusty-colored scribbly style, while “YARD” is a light green with a grassy pattern—but the ultimate message is murky.
A frowning sun looks down on a yard full of junk where there’s not even enough room for a tree to take root. Austin’s scribbly digital illustrations are visually busy, full of discarded junky objects that are half recognizable, the rest of the pile taken up with patterned shapes. Mice scramble through the junkyard while two giant Munching Machines take on the job of eating everything. “They crunch boxcars, jelly jars, / crooked airplane wings. / And five dirty dump trucks / filled with curly metal springs.” Troublingly, though, they also slurp up tankers of oil and “tubs of toxic waste,” magically getting rid of it. The clean white background slowly begins to dominate, the two robots sweeping the yard clean for something new: trees and flowers, a garden, a playground, a mountain, a lake. But the final illustration seems to incorporate some of the junk in the new play space. Did the robots reuse those items? Is this recycling at work? The message is that garbage is bad and needs to be cleaned up, but it also seems to suggest that this is simple and never mentions anything about reducing what one uses and throws away. While some kids will be fascinated with the robotic Munching Machines, the takeaway is unclear, and the represented ease of getting rid of garbage is certainly wrong. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-5961-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A worthwhile tale to encourage sound financial habits.
A headstrong hog demonstrates the do’s and don’ts of saving for a big purchase.
The titular piggy bank rushes to help a bevy of anthropomorphic bills and coins save up for a sled during winter. He wants to do right by his ancestors, seen in a series of porcine portraits on the wall. If only he hadn’t skipped reading The Official Bank Handbook or neglected to plug his belly with a stopper. As a result, Piggy searches for loose change beneath couch cushions and in laundry machines, only for the scant savings to scatter. Sitting still to save money over time is excruciating for Piggy and company, but our hero acquires a work ethic and a sense of thriftiness just in time to make ends meet, purchase a sled, and hit the slopes. In addition to learning temperance and industriousness, Piggy must be dissuaded from taking money from a purse and jollied out of wallowing in tears. His enthusiastic foolhardiness makes him a good Goofus for Gallant readers to cautiously follow through to his eventual redemption. With his shiny round body and frequently smiling face, he’s a natural playmate for the money characters, whom readers may recognize from three previous, loosely connected books by Wilson and Hoffmann. Backmatter traces the centuries-old history of piggy banks and savings funds while sharing savings-related tips and a bibliography.
A worthwhile tale to encourage sound financial habits. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9798890033079
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A thoughtful role model for aspiring inventors.
In this collaboration from mother/daughter duo Corrigan and Corrigan Lichty, a youngster longs to quit the soccer team so she can continue dreaming up more inventions.
Marianne, a snazzily dressed young maker with tan skin, polka-dot glasses, and reddish-brown hair in two buns, feels out of place on the pitch. Her soccer-loving dad signed her up for the team, but she’d much rather be home tinkering and creating. One day she feigns illness to get out of practice (relying on a trick she learned from the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) and uses her newfound time to create a flying machine made from bath towels, umbrellas, cans, and more. Eventually, her dad catches wind of her deception, and she tells him she prefers inventing to playing soccer. Immediately supportive, he plops a pot on his head and becomes Marianne’s tinkering apprentice. Told in lilting rhymes, the story resolves its conflicts rather speedily (Marianne confesses to hating soccer in one swift line). Though the text is wordy at times, it’s quite jaunty, and adults (and retro-loving kids) will chuckle at the ’80s references, from the Ferris Bueller and Dirty Dancing movie posters in Marianne’s room to the name of her dog, Patrick Swayze. True to Marianne’s creative nature, Sweetland surrounds her with lots of clutter and scraps, as well as plenty of bits and bobs. One never knows where inspiration will strike next.
A thoughtful role model for aspiring inventors. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780593206096
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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