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THE SCREAMING CHEF

Name: THE SCREAMING CHEF
Author: Peter Ackerman
ISBN: 978-1-56792-598-2

by Peter Ackerman ; illustrated by Max Dalton ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 27, 2017

Order something else.

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A boy with an obnoxious habit finds a vocation—and maybe a dash of maturity—in the kitchen.

Ackerman buries his message, if any, beneath a deluge of so-clever bons mots. As the white child protagonist stops screaming only when he’s fed, his harried parents ply him with so much chickpea curry and “luscialicious” linguini that he grows too fat to fit in the door. When some burned chicken sparks a fresh tantrum they throw in the dish towel and tell him to serve up his own meals—whereupon he becomes more enamored of cooking than eating, slims down, and opens a restaurant. The screams start up again after a food critic’s “scrump-diddly-icious” rave brings so much frantic business that the lad tops a sundae with a chicken leg and plops his mother on a plate of lentils. Her threat to close the cafe if he doesn’t stop the noise leads to a high-volume apology, songs rather than screams, and a fresh stream of delectable creations: “A girl tasted the molten chocolate lava cake, jumped up and recited the alphabet in Swahili. (And she didn’t even know Swahili).” Nor, it turns out, does Dalton, who represents that white girl’s outburst with a cloud of random shapes. Overall, the illustrations fail either to echo the narrative’s labored air of sophistication or even to make the food plated up for a racially diverse array of diners look appetizing.

Order something else. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 27, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-56792-598-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Godine

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LONELY TYPEWRITER
by Peter Ackerman ; illustrated by Max Dalton

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LONELY PHONE BOOTH
by Peter Ackerman & illustrated by Max Dalton

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NO ORDINARY FAMILY

by Ute Krause ; illustrated by Ute Krause ; translated by Nicholas Miller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2013

Very slightly disguised bibliotherapy, applied with a light touch and capped with a tidy but not unbelievable resolution.

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In this “coping with divorce” tale, a split family becomes an extended one—of robbers, royals and dragons.

“I have a really big family,” announces the matter-of-fact young narrator. “There are about 9 to 22 of us…depending on the day.” At first, seven robber sibs don’t mind shuttling back and forth between their robber parents, who split up because “they just weren’t getting along,” until a princess and her six “prim and prissy little princes and princesses” move in with Dad. So sad is he when his children drive the interlopers away, though, that the younger robbers track them down, rescue them and troop back. In consequence, it’s then not so much of a shock when the robbers’ mom announces that she’s taken up with a dragon father and his six offspring. For easy visual ID, Krause dresses all the robbers in black trench coats with very tall, skinny hats and the princesses in pink gowns and crowns teetering atop equally tall hairdos (the princelings get crowns and sailor suits). Her small figures march about or play in groups in the sketchily detailed cartoon illustrations—gathering in the final scene for general cavorting around a picnic blanket on which the four adults sit and chat amicably.

Very slightly disguised bibliotherapy, applied with a light touch and capped with a tidy but not unbelievable resolution. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-7358-4149-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: NorthSouth

Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
NICK AND THE NASTY KNIGHT
by Ute Krause illustrated by Ute Krause translated by Ute Krause

- BOOK REVIEW
OSCAR AND THE VERY HUNGRY DRAGON
by Ute Krause & illustrated by Ute Krause & translated by Ute Krause

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THE JELLY BEAN EXPERIMENT

From the Danny's Doodles series , Vol. 1

by David A. Adler ; illustrated by David A. Adler ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 3, 2013

Sequels are planned, so Danny’s newly won fans will have something to look forward to.

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Being the new kid is never easy...sometimes, neither is being the new kid’s new best friend.

Fourth-grader Danny Cohen likes Calvin Waffle, the new kid at school, well enough, but Calvin is a little odd. After just two weeks of friendship, Calvin starts using Danny as the subject of an experiment—and he won’t tell Danny what the weeklong study is. It involves statistics, observing Danny from afar and pockets full of jelly beans. Meanwhile, Danny tries to figure out if Calvin’s absent father really is a spy or if that’s just a story Calvin tells. Danny’s also trying to help Calvin make new friends...and both of them are trying to not run afoul of Mrs. Cakel, their tough teacher, who’s armed with a huge list of “NO”s. Award-winning nonfiction author and creator of Cam Jansen, Adler starts a new series of gently humorous stories aimed at those just starting chapter books. The first-person narration, realistic characters and occasional line-drawing “doodles” will keep pages turning. Young readers will easily see themselves in Danny and his compatriots.

Sequels are planned, so Danny’s newly won fans will have something to look forward to. (Fiction. 6-8)