Pollard’s tide is like a poem. Beginning and ending each spread is a word repeated three times, often one that actually sounds like the actions described in the middle of that verse: “Scratch, scratch, scratch. The clam digger rakes the sand. Mussels and clams clattering, shattering into his bucket. Scratch, scratch, scratch.” Text lines dip and curve over the page, mirroring the waves, mirroring the clam digger’s feet trudging through the sand. “S” and “sh” sounds are used plentifully throughout, sounding wonderfully oceanic. Illustration strengths are the clam digger’s large yellow slicker and the flocks of various birds; seagulls and geese are joined by several other (unidentified) kinds, with as many as six species of bird per spread. However, an over-busy feeling pervades the pictures. Too many types of shape and line, along with harsh color combinations, deny the eye a place to rest or focus. Pixilated lines, used for water texture, are too jagged for the waves and foam they are supposed to depict; they evoke a technological world more than a watery one. But onomatopoeia such as “kronk, kronk, kronk” for geese honking and “stoop, stoop, stoop” for bicycle wheels in the sand combines with alliteration like “full of flapping fish,” and all these sounds build to an entrancing combination printed in undulating waves: “Chug. Trudge. Splash. Scratch. Kronk. Prod. Hush. Gush. Swoop. Stoop. Beam. Gleam.” Readers’ eyes may be confused but their ears will definitely be captured. (Picture book. 2-4)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7613-1536-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2002
The history of music is a big topic, and more-nuanced explanation is needed than the format allows.
This ambitious board book aims to promote an eclectic appreciation for music of all kinds.
Music, from drumming to computer-generated sound, is introduced as a linear historical sequence with two pages devoted to each of 11 styles, including medieval European, orchestral, blues, and more. Most of the musicians are portrayed as children, many with darker skin tones and with hairstyles and garb commonly associated with each type of music. Radford works in a retro cartoon mode, varying his presentation slightly with each new musical style but including a dancing dachshund on almost every spread, presumably to enhance child appeal. Unfortunately, the book just can’t succeed in reducing such a wide range of musical styles to toddler-appropriate language. The first two spreads read: “We start with clapping, tapping, and drums. // Lutes, flutes, and words are what we become.” The accompanying illustrations show, respectively, half-naked drummers and European court figures reading, writing, and playing a flute. Both spreads feature both brown-skinned and pale-skinned figures. At first reading this seems innocent enough, but the implication that clapping and drumming are somehow less civilized or sophisticated than a European style is reinforced in Stosuy’s glossary of music terms. He describes “Prehistoric Music” as “rhythmic music [made] with rocks, sticks, bones, and…voices,” while “Renaissance Music” is defined as “multiple melodies played at the same time.”
The history of music is a big topic, and more-nuanced explanation is needed than the format allows. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0941-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet but not essential book.
A whole host of children presents a whole host of balls in this new installment in the Baby Unplugged series.
There are so many kinds of balls in this little board book. Big ball, shiny ball, game ball, plain ball, spot ball. And not all are necessarily balls. Some are round objects, like the snowball and the clay ball or the blueberry that is a “tiny ball.” Some balls are verb balls, like the “throw ball, / catch ball, / go ball, / fetch ball!” There is even a gotcha! ball that’s “not ball”—it’s a cube! And all these balls are being played with by an equally eclectic group of children. African-American, Asian, brown-skinned, and blond and brunette white children are all represented here in illustrations that are charming and clear but not particularly artful. It feels as though both author and illustrator are trying so hard to include so much that they’ve almost forgotten to have fun. It’s reminiscent of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish but without the spark that turns an OK book into a timeless classic. Best suited for young children who are already quite verbal.
A sweet but not essential book. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: April 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-936669-42-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: blue manatee press
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
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