Plot holes make this one hard to digest.
Fred absolutely adores almost everything about spaghetti. The only thing he doesn’t like is how long it takes to cook.
Luckily, Fred’s mother is an inventor, and when he asks her to create a machine to cook spaghetti faster, she invents the Spaghetti-Tronic Electro-Spaghetti Zapper, which takes 10 seconds to turn anything into spaghetti. One day, after eating so much spaghetti that he can barely move, Fred forgets to turn off the machine. When he realizes his mistake, he gets sucked into the Zapper and turned into spaghetti himself. The spaghetti seems to give him superpowers, and before long, a crowd is chasing him through the streets, calling him a superhero. At first Fred is frightened, but when disaster strikes, he realizes he can use “pasta power” to save the day. The book’s illustrations are vibrant and colorful, and the clever textual design creates an appropriately comicslike feel. Unfortunately, the plot meanders and is difficult to follow. It is unclear whether or not Fred is actually turned into spaghetti (it just looks like he’s covered in the stuff) or what his superpowers are. Although the ending is humorous and sweet and the mother character is particularly quirky and fun, overall, the disjointed narrative makes the book difficult to follow. Both Fred and his mom have brown skin. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Plot holes make this one hard to digest. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-25687-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Godwin Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
Another creature is on the loose.
The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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