“Our dad is a magician, / who can make a bird go poof, / but the day he cooked us pancakes, / he made an awful goof.” In his first picture book, Many (My Life, Take Two, 2000, etc.) cooks up a humorous rhyme about a magician who bungles breakfast. When he uses the wrong cookbook (it’s really a book of tricks), the pancakes take on a life of their own and the three children help chase the fugitive flapjacks as they roll right into town. Lush brushstrokes and shadowy images create drama as Goto’s (Shoeshine Whittaker, 1999, etc.) full-bleed illustrations chronicle the action. In the opening spread, one son yawns, the daughter smirks, and only the littlest child looks amused as the father juggles flour, milk, and sugar. “We’d seen this trick a thousand times,” they say. But when blue sparks envelope the mixing bowl and batter shoots into the flaming frying pan, they know something is different. Saucer-sized pancakes take over the town. They blend into the scenery, becoming the steering wheel on the bus, wheels on a taxicab, and medallions on a fancy hat. In one surreal scene, pancakes rain down as a man and woman in black suits, bowlers, blood red ties, and mirrored sunglasses march by holding giant pancake umbrellas. Back home, the children finally find the real cookbook. The father reverses the spell, turning the pancakes back to batter. “ ‘I’ll fry you up another stack,’ ” he says. “But we said, ‘No! Just watch!’ / Then we toasted frozen waffles / right from the soggy box.” A rhythmic, rip-roaring romp. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8027-8795-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2002
The line-drawn angels that appear on nearly every spread give this reverential retelling of the Christmas story a trendy aspect, but the main oil illustrations are lovely in their simplicity and clarity of feeling; the creamy brushwork looks like fresco painting and details of clothing and background are only suggested, drawing viewers' eyes toward the solemn faces of Mary, Joseph, and the rest. Hogrogian (The Cat Who Loved to Sing, 1988, etc.) does not handle the text as well: The story, taken from Matthew and Luke of the King James Version, is both paraphrased (in roman typeface) and quoted directly (in italics, with ellipses to show dropped passages). It's a fussy, potentially confusing treatment that interrupts the narrative flow. A heartfelt but slight off-key voice in the heavenly host of Christmas books. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-688-13579-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1995
Ignoring a big dragon’s repeated complaints, one, two, three…up to ten little dragons make increasing amounts of sleep-preventing noise in this bouncy counting rhyme. Using a flat silkscreen style for his digitally created cartoon scenes, Long supplies a swelling band of spiky, pop-eyed youngsters with toys and musical instruments, along with such modern noisemakers as a flat-screen television, to keep the increasingly irritated parent (or maybe older sib?) wakeful. Modeled on “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” and like chestnuts, the written narrative offers both a reasonably regular cadence and some deft alliteration: “Three dancing dragons learn to tap, tap, tap. / One groggy dragon groans, ‘I want to nap!’ ” At last the miscreants tumble into bed themselves—only to find the tables turned by their larger cavemate’s spread-filling snores. A lighthearted take on a topic of common domestic interest, equally suited to sharing one on one or with a larger audience. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2010
ISBN: 970-0-545-16557-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010
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