An adventure in interactive reading, like Hervé Tullet’s Press Here (2011) but with a plot.
Doorways traced with a fingertip become die-cut portals on following pages as O’Byrne invites readers to help an errant crocodile find a suitable home.
Starting off in darkness, the cartoon illustrations are “illuminated” by a hand clap and a page turn to reveal a big, surly-looking crocodile named Carter—who, as a sign indicates, needs help to find his way home. Tracing a circle on the facing page and thinking of a wet place lands the green grumbler in a stormy ocean. Whoops! How about a better habitat? As Carter the croc is a hefty sort, “pushing” and “jiggling” is also sometimes needed to get him through each successive entryway, and readers can also blow him dry along with other participatory actions. After landing in snow and in desert sand, Carter at last fetches up in a comfy tropical river. Aaah—his snarl becomes a blissful smile. In one oddly gender-bending early scene he clutches a pair of seashells to his (featureless) chest and lets seaweed dangle over his (equally featureless) crotch. Younger readers, at least, will probably just find that funny and follow the instructions to keep tracing, pushing, and, finally, bidding him, as well as the meerkat and other companions who have hitched rides along the way, loud goodbyes (for now).
An adventure in interactive reading, like Hervé Tullet’s Press Here (2011) but with a plot. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9634-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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