A powerful conservation message.
Is the male white rhinoceros at the zoo the only one of his kind left?
The text is sparse and thoughtful. The artwork combines sophisticated collage—including words from many languages inscribed on buildings and animals—with a distinctive drawing style that breathes life equally into humans and animals, automobiles and elevated trains, gritty urban settings and vividly flowered meadows. The first double-page spread has a beige-and-gray palette that sets a somber mood. A young person of color—who reappears later—is gazing toward the protagonist’s large, foregrounded head. A gray city lies behind this figure. The only words: “I am the last.” The next spread continues the bleakness with an aerial view of the zoo and its surrounds. The text continues with the rhino’s sad musing. The pages that follow are a bright and joyous contrast, as readers see the rhinoceros recalling his native land. No one could fail to be moved by baby rhinos cavorting in flamingo-filled waters or by the protagonist gazing adoringly at his mama, who smells “beautiful.” The mother’s death from a horn poacher’s bullet is subtly portrayed but obvious enough to elicit questions from young readers. More “lasts” at the zoo create further pathos. The rhino’s eventual, final relocation will dispel some of the tale’s grimness for little ones; older readers will feel less optimistic when they read the endnotes about a real rhino named Sudan. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9.25-by-18.5-inch double-page spreads viewed at 74% of actual size.)
A powerful conservation message. (note on art) (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-910328-64-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiny Owl
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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