For unicorn die-hards only—and they’ll have to brush their teeth after.
A celebration of unicorns falls squarely under the heading of "camp" in this latest takeoff on Margaret Wise Brown’s best known work.
Rather than a great green room, readers are taken to a “great green wood” where they meet its magical forest denizens. One by one, readers meet then bid goodnight to gnomes, fairies, dragons, and more until they see that all these things are just products of the imagination of a unicorn-loving child falling asleep in a very familiar-looking great green room. Backmatter consists of “facts” about unicorns. As for the writing, it’s unimaginative (a fact that is partly the fault of the format) and occasionally nonsensical: “Goodnight purple. Goodnight pink. / Goodnight colts and bashful wink.” Spanjer excels at rendering a horse's form, but readers must wade through a fair number of eyelashes, rainbows, and prancing to appreciate it. There’s a thick layer of sugary frosting to the proceedings. Parents seeking horned pony fare would do better to indulge in Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Brigitte Barrager’s Uni the Unicorn (2014) or Dallas Clayton’s Lily the Unicorn (2014).
For unicorn die-hards only—and they’ll have to brush their teeth after. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-934649-63-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bailiwick Press
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2016
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
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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