The slippery concept of “problem” aside, rhyming verse and peppy illustrations make for a fun and funny ride.
Problems are colorful creatures, underfoot and under your wheelchair and getting under your skin.
Swirly or scribbly, winged or scaled, and often roly-poly, these googly-eyed imps range from tiny to too tall for the page. Some walk on many legs; one seems to be part of a wall. Sometimes the creatures embody a problem: When an ice cream cone falls splat, the creature’s face is the down-facing scoop; in a cafe serving unappetizing fare, the creature is the frightening dish of food itself; when green goo seeps all over a child’s foot, the creature is that very glue. In other cases, the creatures cause the mischief, dumping black paint all over or sticking out a tongue to intercept a ball. Problems are “Knotty…Hairy…Slippery…Tough… / Sticky like superglue, gathering stuff.” Hicks’ cheerful illustrations deftly integrate a childlike drawing style with visually sophisticated composition and postures—for example, a character’s leg stuck expressively straight out. The creatures besetting a multiracial cast of kids and adults are called problems, but despite lip service to problem-solving, the suggested solutions lean more toward stress-soothing techniques: venting, intentionally relaxing, ignoring them, or waiting them out—“Some you can sleep on. They wake in the night, / then quietly tiptoe and slip from your sight.”
The slippery concept of “problem” aside, rhyming verse and peppy illustrations make for a fun and funny ride. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-17317-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Rodale Kids
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
Nice enough, but its twinkle is on the faint side.
A boy gets an unusual payoff after wishing on a star.
Sitting outside one night, Clyde notices a lone star in the sky. He recites the “Star light, star bright” incantation and makes a wish. Disappointed when it doesn’t come true, he returns home. But later, while he’s asleep, the star he’d wished on sneaks into his bedroom and makes a wish on him! Startled awake, Clyde wonders how to grant Star’s wish. He shares some ideas (and actual objects) with her: a game of checkers, tent camping, tossing a Frisbee, and walkie-talkies. Star likes them, but they’re not her wishes; Clyde confides there’s no one to enjoy them with—and wonders if perhaps Star had wished for a friend. No one will be surprised at what Clyde next confesses to Star. The pair winds up playing together and becoming besties. This is a sweet but thin and predictable story about making friends. Still, readers will appreciate meeting feisty, celestial Star. The author reaches for humor using colloquialisms (“freaked out”), and kids will like the comfortable familiarity that develops between the cheery protagonists. The colored-pencil illustrations are rendered in a limited palette of mostly dark blues and purples, appropriate to the nighttime setting. Star is a luminous, pale yellow with a white topknot and has a star-dappled aura around her. Purple-pj’d Clyde wears bunny slippers and presents White. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough, but its twinkle is on the faint side. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-399-17132-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An expertly crafted, soulful, and humorous work that tenderly explores identity, culture, and the bond between father and...
Thunder Boy Smith Jr. hates his name.
The Native American boy is named after his father, whose nickname is Big Thunder. Thunder Boy Jr. says his nickname, Little Thunder, makes him "sound like a burp or a fart." Little Thunder loves his dad, but he longs for a name that celebrates something special about him alone. He muses, “I love playing in the dirt, so maybe my name should be Mud in His Ears.…I love powwow dancing. I’m a grass dancer. So maybe my name should be Drums, Drums, and More Drums!” Little Thunder wonders how he can express these feelings to his towering father. However, he need not worry. Big Thunder knows that the time has come for his son to receive a new name, one as vibrant as his blossoming personality. Morales’ animated mixed-media illustrations, reminiscent of her Pura Belpré Award–winning work in Niño Wrestles the World (2013), masterfully use color and perspective to help readers see the world from Little Thunder’s point of view. His admiration of his dad is manifest in depictions of Big Thunder as a gentle giant of a man. The otherwise-muted palette bursts with color as Thunder Boy Jr. proudly enumerates the unique qualities and experiences that could inspire his new name.
An expertly crafted, soulful, and humorous work that tenderly explores identity, culture, and the bond between father and son. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-01372-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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