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DADDY'S SANDWICH

This book may spark inspiration—dads best hide their treasures.

A young girl makes Daddy a sandwich with all his favorite ingredients….

But not all of them are edible. The first couple spreads will be all too familiar to any caregiver: the little girl repeats “Daddy” louder and louder to try to get her father’s attention, but soccer on TV is distracting him. When he steals away to the kitchen for a cookie, she offers to make him a sandwich, and he offhandedly says yes (maybe he is thinking she means a pretend sandwich). But while this sandwich does have bread on top and bottom, the middle is filled with all sorts of things Dad loves: butter, a block of stinky cheese, a whole tomato—and his cellphone, Mum’s bubble bath (“he sits in there for ages”), his tool belt, etc. And the pièce de résistance? “More than anything, Daddy loves… // ME!” The book ends when Dad walks into the kitchen to view her final creation: “Daddy! Your sandwich is ready!” The adorably scribbly round-headed, big-eyed, white cherub with pink cheeks and brown pigtails is the very picture of innocence, though readers might suspect she’s not by the end. It’s difficult to tell if she knows better or she is truly naïve, as she sneaks away with Daddy’s slippers and hides behind his chair to slip away the TV remote.

This book may spark inspiration—dads best hide their treasures. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: May 16, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-571-31183-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017

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HOW TO CATCH A DRAGON

From the How To Catch… series

A joyful if simplistic celebration of Chinese New Year culture.

A kid tries to catch a good-luck dragon hiding around town as the family prepares for Chinese New Year following the formula established in How To Catch an Elf (2016) and other series installments.

After hearing Mom wish for a dragon to bring health and fortune for the new year, a boy (presumably Chinese) and several friends (of varying racial presentations) discover a dragon lurking about town. Among the Chinese-style architecture of the town buildings, they employ various fantastical lures related to Chinese culture to catch it, including a web of noodles and sticky rice, a giant red lantern, gold coins, and a dragon dance. The simple and often awkward rhyming quatrains leave no room for deeper insights into Chinese culture, but each stanza does include one or two highlighted words whose Chinese translation can then be found within the illustration. The entire text is translated into Simplified Chinese with Pinyin in the backmatter for cross-referencing. Elkerton’s digitally painted, colorful cartoon illustrations depict a diverse cast of modern-looking children against a backdrop of a traditional Chinese village. Ultimately, despite the protagonist’s failure to catch the dragon, it is being within the embrace of a loving family (depicted as a mother and a grandmother) that is the luckiest of all.

A joyful if simplistic celebration of Chinese New Year culture. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-4926-9369-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland

Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019

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PLANET KINDERGARTEN

Sure to assuage the fears of all astronauts bound for similar missions.

A genius way to ease kids into the new adventure that is kindergarten.

In an imaginative ruse that’s maintained through the whole book, a young astronaut prepares for his mission to Planet Kindergarten. On liftoff day (a space shuttle–themed calendar counts down the days; a stopwatch, the minutes), the small family boards their rocket ship (depicted in the illustrations as the family car), and “the boosters fire.” They orbit base camp while looking for a docking place. “I am assigned to my commander, capsule, and crewmates.” Though he’s afraid, he stands tall and is brave (not just once, either—the escape hatch beckons, but NASA’s saying gets him through: “FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION”). Parents will certainly chuckle along with this one, but kindergarten teachers’ stomach muscles will ache: “[G]ravity works differently here. We have to try hard to stay in our seats. And our hands go up a lot.” Prigmore’s digital illustrations are the perfect complement to the tongue-in-cheek text. Bold colors, sharp lines and a retro-space style play up the theme. The intrepid explorer’s crewmates are a motley assortment of “aliens”—among them are a kid in a hoodie with the laces pulled so tight that only a nose and mouth are visible; a plump kid with a bluish cast to his skin; and a pinkish girl with a toothpick-thin neck and huge bug eyes.

Sure to assuage the fears of all astronauts bound for similar missions. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: May 20, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-4521-1893-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014

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