An accessible, brightly colored work that may appeal to young fans of superheroes and kids who need a little encouragement...
An African-American child who loves vegetables uses his superpowers to keep bad-health monsters away in this picture book by author Base and illustrator Hefke (Toni the Superhero, 2018).
Toni is a seemingly ordinary youngster who can transform into a caped-and-masked hero. Using his “Veggie Power,” he combats such villains as Mr. Softy Bones, who can make bones grow soft; Mr. Gross Yucka Boo Boo, who can cause sickness; and Ms. Tummy Slam Pangs, who gives people stomachaches after they eat junk food. Sometimes Toni’s powers appear as rays from his eyes; at other times, they appear to have a martial arts element. Hefke’s two-page spreads of cartoon clouds with limbs flailing and comic-book–style sound effects obscure any depiction of actual violence. In short sentences with repeated keywords (“Toni eats vegetables. Vegetables make him strong”), Base emphasizes eating veggies of different colors, which will give preschool lap-readers the opportunity to identify both the hues and the vegetables portrayed. Although Toni and his friends, a diverse group, don’t speak any lines, their illustrated reactions to bad guys and good foods will give readers instant understanding.
An accessible, brightly colored work that may appeal to young fans of superheroes and kids who need a little encouragement to eat healthier.Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-72166-632-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
For Berkner’s fans; there are much better books about children visiting imaginative lands.
Berkner’s children’s song gets the picture-book treatment with illustrations from Garoche.
What kid hasn’t made a massive pillow fort and imagined all sorts of adventures? Well, Berkner’s premise is that there is a land where everything is made of pillows, and three lucky children get to visit there. (They appear to be siblings, perhaps a blended family: Mom and one girl are black; Dad, one boy, and one girl are white.) The illustrations transition between depictions of obvious imaginative play in a bedroom to a fantasy world and back again at the end, when the parents peek in at the three asleep. Garoche’s art consists of photos of papercut artwork arranged in dioramas with some Photoshop details. Reminiscent of Michael Garland’s work (though more pastel in color) or that of Elly McKay (though less ethereal), the illustrations are a mixed bag, with layers and hard edges juxtaposed against all the pillows. The king and queen of the song are obviously stand-ins for the parents. Children who know the tune may not sit still for a reading, while those who don’t may wonder at the repeated refrain.
For Berkner’s fans; there are much better books about children visiting imaginative lands. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6467-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
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The greening of Dr. Seuss, in an ecology fable with an obvious message but a savingly silly style. In the desolate land of the Lifted Lorax, an aged creature called the Once-ler tells a young visitor how he arrived long ago in the then glorious country and began manufacturing anomalous objects called Thneeds from "the bright-colored tufts of the Truffula Trees." Despite protests from the Lorax, a native "who speaks for the trees," he continues to chop down Truffulas until he drives away the Brown Bar-ba-loots who had fed on the Tuffula fruit, the Swomee-Swans who can't sing a note for the smogulous smoke, and the Humming-Fish who had hummed in the pond now glumped up with Gluppity-Glupp. As for the Once-let, "1 went right on biggering, selling more Thneeds./ And I biggered my money, which everyone needs" — until the last Truffula falls. But one seed is left, and the Once-let hands it to his listener, with a message from the Lorax: "UNLESS someone like you/ cares a whole awful lot,/ nothing is going to get better./ It's not." The spontaneous madness of the old Dr. Seuss is absent here, but so is the boredom he often induced (in parents, anyway) with one ridiculous invention after another. And if the Once-let doesn't match the Grinch for sheer irresistible cussedness, he is stealing a lot more than Christmas and his story just might induce a generation of six-year-olds to care a whole lot.
Pub Date: Aug. 12, 1971
ISBN: 0394823370
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1971
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BOOK REVIEW
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