This fun, fast-paced narrative will have readers eager to turn the page and imagine their own fanciful scenarios
Written in the form of a dialogue, this British import traces the (imaginary!) adventures of a young South Asian boy, Nimesh, on his way home from school.
A voice, presumably an adult’s, asks Nimesh generic questions about school and about his walk home. Nimesh, however, constantly corrects the voice’s (and consequently readers’) assumptions about where he is and what he’s doing. For instance, in the very first double-page spread, a group of children crowd around a book named How to Tame a Dragon in 7 Days. The interrogative text reads, “Hello Nimesh, is school over?”—to which Nimesh responds, “School? My friend, this is not a school! It’s an ancient cave, and shhhh! Or you’ll wake… // …the DRAGON!” Turning the page reveals a dragon wearing Mary Jane pumps, face down and fast asleep atop a book at the teacher’s desk. A bottle of mineral water on the desk simultaneously acknowledges the hilarity of Nimesh’s imagination and allows readers to interpret Nimesh’s exhausted teacher reimagined as a dragon. Amini’s collagelike images depicting Nimesh’s numerous adventures—swimming with sharks, fighting pirates aboard a pirate ship, and skating across the ice at the North Pole, to name a few—complement both Singh’s tongue-in-cheek narrative and Nimesh’s far-reaching imagination.
This fun, fast-paced narrative will have readers eager to turn the page and imagine their own fanciful scenarios . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911373-24-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lantana
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.
The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.
Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0935-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A visually engaging but otherwise underwhelming take on a classic.
A retelling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, set in the Alaskan tundra.
Prolific picture-book author and illustrator Brett depicts Alice with short black hair, tan skin, and a fur-lined parka, while Lewis Carroll’s well-known characters are recast in new guises: The Cheshire Cat and Queen of Hearts appear as a Smilodon (saber-toothed cat) and snowy owl, respectively. Progressing at a rapid-fire pace, the narrative follows key moments of the original plot, including Alice’s fall down the rabbit hole (located within a glacier here), her tea party with the Hatter and the March Hare (this time, with the Old Prospector and the Varying Hare), and a scene where several playing cards paint the roses red (instead, the cotton grass) at the Queen’s behest. Characteristic of Brett’s illustrative style, each spread is packed with detail. Observant readers will find much to explore, from the well-worn playing cards that line each page to the intricate Alaskan birds and mammals featured at every turn. Still, the hectic rhythm of the story might lose youngsters, and its ho-hum text flattens some of Carroll’s whimsy. Adults may be disappointed that Brett has chosen to highlight only the area’s animals and colonial history (the Prospector hearkens back to Alaska’s history of colonial encroachment), with no explicit mention of the land’s rich Indigenous nations and cultures.
A visually engaging but otherwise underwhelming take on a classic. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Nov. 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780593533888
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024
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