A creatively told story sure to tickle readers.
True to his calling, Supermouse is prepared to save the world, but he might need help with the Volcano of Doom.
Supermouse is swamped with day-to-day rescues in the city of Mouseopolis, so when a nearby volcano threatens to erupt, he holds auditions for the League of Remarkable Rodents. “But were these rodents all that remarkable?” It turns out that Inflato-Girl, Daring Digger, and Speed Eater have just the right combination of skills to help Supermouse save Mouseopolis when a “molten mass of melted cheese…ooze[es] toward the city.” Brightly colored illustrations packed with fun details are worth poring over, especially since some of the book’s flaps easily blend into the larger illustrations. These sturdy flaps, which will likely withstand multiple readings, often create multipage booklets, some with cutouts, some that creatively extend the page beyond the book’s edges—all are critical to the storytelling. Wordplay shines. There’s alliteration aplenty, from the names of the main characters—Peter Parmesan (Supermouse’s true identity) and villains Mischief McMouse and Sally the Sly—to descriptions like “treacherous tumbles” and “perilous pitfalls” as well as delightful tongue-twisting strings such as “He fought fearlessly to fend off the flow of the fiery fondue.” Both adults and children will giggle at the puns—workplace signs (“BRIE SAFE BRIE SEEN,” “DANGER HAZARDOUS TASTE”), a classified ad for “Rock band FLEETWOOD MAC ’n’ CHEESE”—and spectator comments like “We’re all fondoomed!” There is also a smattering of onomatopoeia for storytime fun.
A creatively told story sure to tickle readers. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68010-282-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
A sweet, if oft-told, story.
A plush toy rabbit bonds with a boy and watches him grow into adulthood.
The boy receives the blue bunny for his birthday and immediately becomes attached to it. Unbeknownst to him, the ungendered bunny is sentient; it engages in dialogue with fellow toys, giving readers insight into its thoughts. The bunny's goal is to have grand adventures when the boy grows up and no longer needs its company. The boy spends many years playing imaginatively with the bunny, holding it close during both joyous and sorrowful times and taking it along on family trips. As a young man, he marries, starts a family, and hands over the beloved toy to his toddler-aged child in a crib. The bunny's epiphany—that he does not need to wait for great adventures since all his dreams have already come true in the boy's company—is explicitly stated in the lengthy text, which is in many ways similar to The Velveteen Rabbit (1922). The illustrations, which look hand-painted but were digitally created, are moderately sentimental with an impressionistic dreaminess (one illustration even includes a bunny-shaped cloud in the sky) and a warm glow throughout. The depiction of a teenage male openly displaying his emotions—hugging his beloved childhood toy for example—is refreshing. All human characters present as White expect for one of the boy’s friends who is Black.
A sweet, if oft-told, story. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72825-448-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
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