An invigorating wade into a range of useful skills, though the settings aren’t as carefully crafted as the instructional...
Linked mazes lead young questors past math, measurement, and map-reading challenges to an undersea castle.
A-bustle with automobiles for all that it’s supposed to be under water, the tangled roadways leading through Merp Town aren’t hard to navigate. But along with detours required by such obstacles as a giant octopus or Snozzles the sea dragon, travelers are frequently required to hold up a certain number of fingers, use the coordinates at the edges to locate hidden items, count cars of a certain color, or collect small pearls or other tokens before proceeding. The 12th maze leads to one final challenge: a cutaway castle with a top that can be reached only by climbing the tallest visible ladder, shimmying up the longest of a set of ropes, and like tasks. In Boston’s cartoon illustrations, tiny fish and other sea creatures are interspersed with green- or yellow-skinned merpeople in dress that seems better suited to dry land than undersea. That gesture toward diversity is not repeated in the co-published In the Jungle, in which sets of similar exercises in counting and finding are hosted by hut-dwelling native residents called Leafies, who are all green and sport dreadlocks and leopard-skin garments.
An invigorating wade into a range of useful skills, though the settings aren’t as carefully crafted as the instructional elements. (suggested activities) (Instructional picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68297-034-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: QEB Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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
Totes adorbs.
A cuddly, squishy pug’s puggy-wuggy diary.
Equipped with both #pugunicorn and #pughotdog outfits, pug Baron von Bubbles (aka Bub) is the kind of dog that always dresses to impress. Bub also makes lots of memorable faces, such as the “Hey, you’re not the boss of me!” expression aimed at Duchess, the snooty pink house cat. Some of Bub’s favorite things include skateboarding, a favorite teddy, and eating peanut butter. Bub also loves Bella, who adopted Bub from a fair—it was “love at first sniff.” Together, Bub and Bella do a lot of arts and crafts. Their latest project: entering Bella’s school’s inventor challenge by making a super-duper awesome rocket. But, when the pesky neighborhood squirrel, Nutz, makes off with Bub’s bear, Bub accidentally ruins their project. How will they win the contest? More importantly, how will Bella ever forgive him? May’s cutesy, full-color cartoon art sets the tone for this pug-tastic romp for the new-to–chapter-books crowd. Emojilike faces accentuate Bub’s already expressive character design. Bub’s infectious first-person narration pushes the silly factor off the charts. In addition to creating the look and feel of a diary, the lined paper helps readers follow the eight-chapter story. Most pages have fewer than five sentences, often broken into smaller sections. Additional text appears in color-coded speech bubbles. Bella presents white.
Totes adorbs. (Fiction. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-53003-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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