Families that enjoy repetitive songs, such as “The Wheels on the Bus,” will be glad to throw this fruit-eating space...
A spaceman boldly proclaims his love for Earth’s appealing yellow fruit in this board-book debut by singer/songwriter Apel.
Fred Pinsocket flies a rocket around the universe, plays keytar and drums, and has a passion for bananas. The rhymes here are the lyrics to Apel’s song of the same title, which he offers as a free download with the purchase of the book. The lyrics are silly enough without the music, but with the tune and sound effects, children will be sure to enjoy it; as a result, they’ll likely want to play the music and read the book repeatedly. Fred, with his bulbous nose, enormous eyes, red spacesuit, and blue helmet with a satellite dish on top, is a likable little guy, and creative, early-grade readers who pick up this book may even attempt their own drawings of him. Very young readers will enjoy the repeated phrases: “I love bananas. I love them. Yum! Yum! Yum!” The rhyme scheme is steady throughout, with the addition of extra phrases that make better sense with the instrumentation. The only challenging words are Fred’s last name and “potassium”—but even if kids don’t know what the latter means, they’re still likely to sing or repeat the word, as it rhymes with “yum.” The board book’s sturdy pages, with their brightly colored backgrounds, will hold up to the rereadings that 3- to 5-year-olds may require. Adults may not be as excited about repeating the same lyrics again and again, particularly when the sparse word count includes four repetitions of the chorus. Young readers, however, will giggle over and over again, and the images of Fred’s rocket towing a ball of bananas will bring a smile to even the stingiest adult’s face.
Families that enjoy repetitive songs, such as “The Wheels on the Bus,” will be glad to throw this fruit-eating space traveler into their mix.Pub Date: April 28, 2015
ISBN: 978-0990794103
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Fred Pinsocket Productions
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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