A fun, lighthearted tour around an infinitely goofy universe.
It’s up to two children, a dog, and a pumpkin-shaped alien to save the world in this debut sci-fi comedy for kids.
Chuck is a laid-back prankster with no head for math, and he sees Kia, who has an IQ of 170, as an insufferable know-it-all. They’re neighbors but not friends, until one day, they both see a whale floating in the sky overhead. It turns out to be a disguised spaceship belonging to Oops, a creature called a “gurgle” from another dimension. This heroic gurgle turns out to need their help saving the Earth from the groinks, a race of green, piglike aliens who are furious about their portrayal in the “Angry Birds” video game. Together with Chuck’s dog, Floppy, the boys climb aboard the camouflaged “spitter” craft, which is fueled by beer, and begin hopping across the galaxy; along the way, they meet dancing penguins, aliens called Cerebums who have brains in their rear ends, and, of course, the aforementioned groinks. They face the dangers of black holes, “brainmashers,” “peabrainers,” and the wrath of Oops’ overbearing overseers, the Department of Space-time for Analysing and Improving Reality, aka DESPAIR. Along the way, the four unlikely teammates learn to appreciate one another’s strengths and use their talents for the good of the world. This book is sprinkled throughout with whimsical humor and will appeal to young children who can get a laugh out of the idea of aliens like the Cerebums, but it also contains several references to high-end mathematics and literature—sometimes with explanatory footnotes. As absurd as the story’s fictional universe is, it’s well-built and always follows a certain kind of Lewis Carroll–like logic. The author even includes translations for occasional “Gurglese” phrases, such as “Ooee bree gurr?” (“Can I jump on your head?”) The premise may be too silly for older kids, and the humor descends to rather crude levels on occasion, but overall, this book is the perfect galactic romp for the intelligent, discriminating 12-year-old.
A fun, lighthearted tour around an infinitely goofy universe.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-9381626931
Page Count: 260
Publisher: Tranquebar Press
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires.
Little Blue Truck feels, well, blue when he delivers valentine after valentine but receives nary a one.
His bed overflowing with cards, Blue sets out to deliver a yellow card with purple polka dots and a shiny purple heart to Hen, one with a shiny fuchsia heart to Pig, a big, shiny, red heart-shaped card to Horse, and so on. With each delivery there is an exchange of Beeps from Blue and the appropriate animal sounds from his friends, Blue’s Beeps always set in blue and the animal’s vocalization in a color that matches the card it receives. But as Blue heads home, his deliveries complete, his headlight eyes are sad and his front bumper droops ever so slightly. Blue is therefore surprised (but readers may not be) when he pulls into his garage to be greeted by all his friends with a shiny blue valentine just for him. In this, Blue’s seventh outing, it’s not just the sturdy protagonist that seems to be wilting. Schertle’s verse, usually reliable, stumbles more than once; stanzas such as “But Valentine’s Day / didn’t seem much fun / when he didn’t get cards / from anyone” will cause hitches during read-alouds. The illustrations, done by Joseph in the style of original series collaborator Jill McElmurry, are pleasant enough, but his compositions often feel stiff and forced.
Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-27244-1
Page Count: 20
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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