A simple but entertaining narrative inspired by stuffed animals.
A picture book follows stuffed toys as they move and play.
Brown offers a story featuring a collection of stuffed animals made by Peruvian artisans. The toys, or Joobles, are extremely active, and the tale narrates their motions (“Joobles! Joobles! Take a walk! Joobles! Joobles! Skip and hop!”). The rather emotive text (Joobles is always accompanied by an exclamation point) does not follow a plot, instead describing the Joobles’ activities (“Pip and Mel romp, and Racky runs. Kitty Katz naps in the sun”). The text rhymes in English. Miranda-McIntosh’s Spanish translation that appears on facing pages is able to retain some rhymes, but in many cases, producing an accurate, word-for-word translation means losing the rhythm of the English words. The brightly colored, cartoonlike illustrations by Balsley capture the essence of the protagonists. The images convey the feeling of constant motion supplied by the text, and the emphasis on color rather than intricate details keeps the pictures from overwhelming readers. This is a picture book that does not tell a traditional tale but engages young readers with a catchy rhythm and pleasing rhymes. The combination of a minimalist text in a recurring pattern and eye-catching illustrations is likely to appeal to very young children who enjoy the reading experience but are not yet able to follow a story. An afterword explains the Joobles’ real-life origin and the nonprofit organization that oversees their creation and distribution, providing necessary context for the straightforward tale.
A simple but entertaining narrative inspired by stuffed animals.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-09-838198-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Fair Indigo
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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