Dedicated to the people who have made them who they are, Maloney and Zekauskas’s (Belly Button Boy, 2000, etc) latest offering celebrates the fact that there is “. . . a little bit of everybody in everybody.” From his birth, no one saw Percival Puddicombe as himself. His mother looked at him and saw her nose, his father saw his eyes, and his relatives each claimed they saw their own features in him. Even Percival couldn’t see anything else. When he looked in the mirror, a crowd of relatives stared back at him. Then, one day, his mother’s nose, his father’s eyes, and all of his relatives’ body parts disappeared, along with Percival, to his grandparents’ house where he was always just Percival. There he learns the important lesson that he is a part of everyone who has come before . . . but that he will also always be his own special person. And when he returns with the family photo album, everyone finds a little bit of themselves in its pages . . . literally. The illustrations are sure to appeal to youngsters’ funny bones, especially when the body parts start disappearing! Skinny, knobby-kneed figures sport dotted or striped stockings and ties and wide-eyed expressions of surprise, even his grandmother. Adult readers are sure to chuckle over the details tucked in for their amusement (pay special attention to his uncle’s bookcase). With its humor and gentle message of genetics, this is a story to be shared whenever the family photos get pulled off the shelf. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8037-2545-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
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