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THE BIGGEST TEST IN THE UNIVERSE

Name: THE BIGGEST TEST IN THE UNIVERSE
Author: Nancy Poydar
ISBN: 0-8234-1944-4

by Nancy Poydar & illustrated by Nancy Poydar ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2005

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Young Sam has heard stories about the end-of-year test in Mr. Albright’s class. It’s as big as a telephone book, older students groan. Your head will look like a marble when you’re done; your arm will be in a sling. (“Some arms fall off,” shrieks one girl at Sam.) Understandably, Sam has a gathering case of the willies. Even his family is (inadvertently) undercutting his teetering confidence; his mother remembers endless reports, his grandfather remembers teachers measuring his head at the end of term—if it hadn’t grown, woe was he. Mr. Albright is as cool as a cucumber, pouring oil on troubled waters, but the waters still tremble. Poydar works her magic here, playfully kindling a little blaze under Sam’s apprehension, all the while defusing it with the goofy preposterousness of the legends surrounding the test. Said and done, Sam’s class now has their own legends to pass on: “Yeah,” said one kid to a younger one. “I know a kid who had to eat it!” The tradition continues. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-8234-1944-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2005

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
BUS DRIVER
by Nancy Poydar & illustrated by Nancy Poydar

- BOOK REVIEW
NO FAIR SCIENCE FAIR
by Nancy Poydar & illustrated by Nancy Poydar

- BOOK REVIEW
FISH SCHOOL
by Nancy Poydar and illustrated by Nancy Poydar

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WHERE ARE YOUR SHOES, MR. BROWN?

by Justin Rhodes ; illustrated by Heather Dickinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2023

Pedestrian.

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Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.

Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 14, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals

Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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THIS BOOK IS HAUNTED

by Joanne Rocklin & illustrated by JoAnn Adinolfi ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2002

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A good collection of poems and quick tales that packs a little Halloween chill. Adinolfi’s (Fred’s Bed, 2001, etc.) art has the right mixture of daffy and spooky—eerie faces and clacking skeletons, in strong colors—to set the tone for these six stories, a couple of which have comical edges, but mostly have a solid, creepy quality. Two are cautionary tales: One involves a couple of girls who visit one house too many on Halloween night, the other an irresponsible bully boy who refuses to bring back a library book. One provides a shock: “Then Sally Bibble drew a little scribble / that looked a lot like Baby Bibble. / They never found her baby sister. / Sally Bibble hardly missed her.” And a couple leave strange things unexplained, though older characters think they have figured out the queer happenings: a house that echoes even when it’s not empty, and a mysterious tap tap tapping. The text is also pitch-perfect for beginning readers, with just enough challenge to the words and a narrative momentum that pulls readers right along. (Easy reader. 4-8)