Etiquette that falls short.
A dinosaur longs for a friend with good manners.
Nigel, a prim turquoise theropod with a dapper bow tie, is very strict about etiquette. He’s read all of the best primers on the subject (including Elbows Off the Table and Other Rules of Carnivorous Courtesy), but he just can’t seem to find a tea-party guest who will meet his high standards. Alas, a dragon sneezed directly onto the table (and set it on fire), and a llama thought the teacups were toys and balanced them on his head. But finally, a unicorn is coming to tea. Nigel is convinced that the “unicorn’s manners will be sublime.” Periwinkle, a bright yellow unicorn with a magenta mane, swoops to the table. Unfortunately, she shines her horn with the napkin and dunks a cookie directly in the teapot! Poor Nigel is the picture of dejection. But Periwinkle explains that she learned from her great-grandmother that it is polite to eat dessert first and to spear cookies with forks. It appears the message Halpern is reaching for is that table manners are arbitrary and differ from culture to culture (or, in this case, species to species). But instead of choosing an inclusive conclusion, the text lands hard on “Maybe bad manners aren’t so bad after all,” accompanied by a picture of Nigel, Periwinkle, and his erstwhile guests displaying comically bad manners. Manners-abiding hopefuls may cringe.
Etiquette that falls short. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5037-5711-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sunbird Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground.
A little red sleigh has big Christmas dreams.
Although the detailed, full-color art doesn’t anthropomorphize the protagonist (which readers will likely identify as a sled and not a sleigh), a close third-person text affords the object thoughts and feelings while assigning feminine pronouns. “She longed to become Santa’s big red sleigh,” reads an early line establishing the sleigh’s motivation to leave her Christmas-shop home for the North Pole. Other toys discourage her, but she perseveres despite creeping self-doubt. A train and truck help the sleigh along, and when she wishes she were big, fast, and powerful like them, they offer encouragement and counsel patience. When a storm descends after the sleigh strikes out on her own, an unnamed girl playing in the snow brings her to a group of children who all take turns riding the sleigh down a hill. When the girl brings her home, the sleigh is crestfallen she didn’t reach the North Pole. A convoluted happily-ever-after ending shows a note from Santa that thanks the sleigh for giving children joy and invites her to the North Pole next year. “At last she understood what she was meant to do. She would build her life up spreading joy, one child at a time.” Will she leave the girl’s house to be gifted to other children? Will she stay and somehow also reach ever more children? Readers will be left wondering. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 31.8% of actual size.)
Sadly, the storytelling runs aground. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72822-355-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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