A first-rate mind expander, this app rewards repeat visits and depicts several family constellations with irresistible...
A set of wordless domestic tableaux as rich in content as they are hilarious, presented in deliciously extravagant visuals stocked with clever interactive features.
Each of the six scenes features a happy child and one or two adults—sharing a bathroom or a computer, having a tickle session or laughing in front of a mirror—but a tap of an icon or a shake of the tablet transforms the grownups from male to female, or, for couples, from mixed to two mothers or two fathers. Taking a “surprise me!” approach throughout, the art, which is all semiabstract, features wildly exaggerated figures and exuberant jumbles of loud color, which serve as a platform for both automatic and touch-activated effects. These range from wavy lines of stench floating from the two potties and wallpaper flowers that both whirl and sound a percussive chorus when tapped to two men who triumphantly slap hands after successfully changing the child’s diaper. Utterly silly, but perfectly in keeping with all the rest, an icon on each screen delivers a real local weather report when tapped. Well, why not?
A first-rate mind expander, this app rewards repeat visits and depicts several family constellations with irresistible intimacy and good humor—all the while featuring uncommonly inventive art and software design. (iPad informational app. 4-9, adult)Pub Date: July 7, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Raghava KK Inc.
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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