Everyone knows a boy like Billy. He doesn’t care to bathe, and his favorite retort is “Dirt doesn’t hurt!” After digging in the dirt at home and playing in the sand on the beach one particularly grimy day, Billy finds his navel is full of sand and “all kinds of things that boys will dig up” (a humorous, labeled diagram of the layers of crud illustrates the discovery). Is that a leaf sprouting out of Billy’s belly button? It is, followed by more leaves, a longer vine, and then a full-fledged bush. Billy’s doctor refers the leaf-covered lad to a landscaper, who transplants the belly-button bush into a pot and advises Billy to keep his navel clean. This rather silly story is written in singsong rhyming couplets and illustrated by the authors in a bright cartoon style in pencil and gouache. Though adults might find the story inane, some kids (especially those in the anti-bath stage) will find it hilarious, with the potential to become one of those “not that one again?” books that the child adores and the parent would prefer not to read for the 33rd time. Of course, there is the obvious bibliotherapeutic use for the filthy child who will not get in the bathtub, and there actually is a demand for books in the early elementary grades on the popular subject of seeds. (Yes, humor has a place in the elementary science curriculum, or it should.) Not a first choice for all collections, but a book that grows on you, especially if you’re six and hate baths. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8037-2542-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Though the science is not particularly solid, the message is an important one, and with the level of gross in the...
Krall’s latest is a disgusting, tongue-in-cheek lesson in contagiousness.
Simon loves school so much that even a cold (with its attendant snotty nose) won’t keep him home. He kisses his family and boards the bus, proceeding to vomit out the window on the way: “He…had fun the whole way,” the text understates. The merest contact or proximity leads others to suddenly, and unrealistically, sport Simon’s symptoms. The week includes show-and-tell, a zoo field trip, a game of kickball and a child-free bus on Friday afternoon, all the children having finally succumbed to his illness. The three germs that have been following him around all week finally introduce themselves and high-five him for being such a “germ hero.” Horrified, Simon does his best to stop their spread, washing his hands, covering his mouth, resting and hydrating, though the same cannot be said for one classmate on Monday morning. Krall’s illustrations work in the ick factor, his Photoshopped characters sporting oozing and dripping poison-green noses as each comes into contact with Simon. Careful observers may spot the colorful germs before they introduce themselves, but even those who don’t will want to go back and try to find all their appearances.
Though the science is not particularly solid, the message is an important one, and with the level of gross in the illustrations, it is sure to get through to young audiences. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9097-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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