A cleverly imagined story with a delightful premise but uneven plot.
Once upon a time there lived a rajah who, despite his good nature, lacked the mathematical ability to properly govern his kingdom….
As a result, his people suffer. One such is Bhagat, a nimble-thinking and hardworking but impoverished young man who lives with his mother in a distant village. Bhagat is a passionate singer, so when he hears that the king is holding auditions for the royal troupe, he travels to the palace to audition. Due to his family’s poverty, Bhagat is able to carry only 1 rupee and seven links from his mother’s wedding chain. When he arrives at his destination, the innkeepers demand a ring in advance for every night that Bhagat stays, but the goldsmith charges 1 rupee per link to break it. How can Bhagat make the necklace last without wasting a single link? With some clever reasoning and base two math, Bhagat makes his resources stretch long enough to get an audience with the rajah—and a new, unexpected opportunity. This heartwarming rags-to-riches story is accompanied by vivid illustrations that pulse with detail, movement, and color. However, the middle of the story consists mostly of expository text detailing different ways to divide the set of seven rings into multiple parts, an abstract diversion that brings the plot to a grinding halt. An author’s note discusses base 10 and binary systems. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 36.1% of actual size.)
A cleverly imagined story with a delightful premise but uneven plot. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-88500-897-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Decidedly one-trick yet inspired and prettily designed.
Coppo adapts a 17th-century Italian magic trick for her latest meta excursion.
Tuxedoed Lady Rabbit welcomes her audience, acknowledging that wow-level magic is difficult to pull off in a book. Making something appear as if out of nowhere…well, “any book can do that!” But the titular claim bears out in cleverly designed pages. First, readers are told to scan a page of audience members (36 charmingly unique denizens arrayed in six rows) and to choose one member. Lady Rabbit then asks kids to identify the row of their seated pick by turning to a specific page. Uh-oh! Every audience member has changed seats! Again directed to a particular page based on their choice’s new row, readers will discover that Lady Rabbit has guessed their pick. All nine answer pages include the characters and the instruction: “I guessed it, didn’t I? Now go to page 39.” There, with a “TA-DA!” and a bow, the white rabbit invites kids to turn back to pages 12-13 to try again. Coppa’s finely inked floral borders and decorated proscenium arch, colored in black and white and muted greens and salmon, emanate a vintage feel. Kids will warm to amusing audience members such as Shroom, Yeti, and Unknown (a smiling question mark) and will delight in the various mini-creatures adorning each page. One downside of the trick’s interactivity: The six pages that redirect readers to the solution pages are visually identical.
Decidedly one-trick yet inspired and prettily designed. (historical note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781797229010
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent.
Wouldn’t the same housecat look very different to a dog and a mouse, a bee and a flea, a fox, a goldfish, or a skunk?
The differences are certainly vast in Wenzel’s often melodramatic scenes. Benign and strokable beneath the hand of a light-skinned child (visible only from the waist down), the brindled cat is transformed to an ugly, skinny slinker in a suspicious dog’s view. In a fox’s eyes it looks like delectably chubby prey but looms, a terrifying monster, over a cowering mouse. It seems a field of colored dots to a bee; jagged vibrations to an earthworm; a hairy thicket to a flea. “Yes,” runs the terse commentary’s refrain, “they all saw the cat.” Words in italics and in capital letters in nearly every line give said commentary a deliberate cadence and pacing: “The cat walked through the world, / with its whiskers, ears, and paws… // and the fish saw A CAT.” Along with inviting more reflective viewers to ruminate about perception and subjectivity, the cat’s perambulations offer elemental visual delights in the art’s extreme and sudden shifts in color, texture, and mood from one page or page turn to the next.
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5013-0
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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