by Min Jee Jung ; illustrated by Valeria Cis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2017
Well-intentioned but clunky.
The methods of two neighboring farmers pit chemical agriculture against naturally grown food.
Thump-Thump Giant raises produce quickly, utilizing a shed full of pesticides and herbicides. He fattens his cows and sheep with chemical-laced feed. Nearby, Grandma Snail raises her crops and animals without chemicals. She works harder than Thump-Thump Giant but shines with confidence in her food’s superior flavor. The farmers sell at side-by-side stands. Both draw customers but for different reasons. The giant’s robust food is cheap, while Grandma Snail’s is both imperfect and delicious. She sells out her crops, but Thump-Thump Giant always has unsold produce left over. The text crams the history of industrial farming into Thump-Thump Giant’s modus operandi. He sprays pesticides on his leftover food, intending to sell later. He packages heat-and-serve, preservative-laden meals for busy people. His Ready Meals are a hit until people sicken from eating them. Grandma Snail, meanwhile, writes a guide to growing and cooking natural foods and shares her farming knowledge with visitors. The didactic narrative is thick with stilted, over-the-top dialogue. “My child got a skin disease after eating Ready Meals!” one customer shouts. “I feel bloated and have indigestion,” another says. At Slow Farm, a diner avows, “I taste the refreshing and sweet flavor of fresh vegetables the more I chew.” Thump-Thump’s predictable reformation follows; pleasantly folk-style depictions of a diverse community elevate the package.
Well-intentioned but clunky. (additional facts, interview, activities) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-939248-20-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: TanTan
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
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by Michelle Worthington ; illustrated by Joseph Cowman ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2015
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way.
A young boy sees things a little differently than others.
Noah can see patterns in the dust when it sparkles in the sunlight. And if he puts his nose to the ground, he can smell the “green tang of the ants in the grass.” His most favorite thing of all, however, is to read. Noah has endless curiosity about how and why things work. Books open the door to those answers. But there is one question the books do not explain. When the wind comes whistling by, where does it go? Noah decides to find out. In a chase that has a slight element of danger—wind, after all, is unpredictable—Noah runs down streets, across bridges, near a highway, until the wind lifts him off his feet. Cowman’s gusty wisps show each stream of air turning a different jewel tone, swirling all around. The ribbons gently bring Noah home, setting him down under the same thinking tree where he began. Did it really happen? Worthington’s sensitive exploration leaves readers with their own set of questions and perhaps gratitude for all types of perspective. An author’s note mentions children on the autism spectrum but widens to include all who feel a little different.
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60554-356-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Redleaf Lane
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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by Megan McDonald & illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2012
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the...
An all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades.
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the streets in the time-honored stiff-armed, stiff-legged fashion. McDonald signals her intent on page one: “Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie’s eye fell off and rolled across the floor.” The farce is as broad as the Atlantic, with enough spookiness just below the surface to provide the all-important shivers. Accompanied by Reynolds’ drawings—dozens of scene-setting gems with good, creepy living dead—McDonald shapes chapters around zombie motifs: making zombie costumes, eating zombie fare at school, reading zombie books each other to reach the one-million-minutes-of-reading challenge. When the zombie walk happens, it delivers solid zombie awfulness. McDonald’s feel-good tone is deeply encouraging for readers to get up and do this for themselves because it looks like so much darned fun, while the sub-message—that reading grows “strong hearts and minds,” as well as teeth and bones—is enough of a vital interest to the story line to be taken at face value.Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5692-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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by Megan McDonald ; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
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