Terrific for cowgirls and bike riders everywhere. (Picture book. 4-7)
Giddy-up, bicycle girl!
This horse-loving cowgirl is quick with her pedals and getting ready to compete in a bike rodeo at the county fair. Reigning champ and neighborhood cowboy A.J. Pickett is sure to be competition, but Nellie Sue, resplendent in her girly cowgirl gear, just knows that she and her two-wheeled horse, Beauty, are going to win. Energetic, pink-strewn illustrations with plenty of action show the heroine practicing and later attending the long-anticipated fair. The day itself is full of various delights, and Nellie Sue gets to pet the animals, sample the food and even take part in a pie-eating contest. Then it’s time for the rodeo to begin, and our heroine is up first! Will she win? When fate intervenes, Nellie Sue is stoic; for “even more than a blue ribbon, every cowgirl should have a badge of honor.” This paean to good sportsmanship and friendship is suspenseful, nicely paced and infused with exciting details that will appeal to both the princess and the tomboy sets.
Terrific for cowgirls and bike riders everywhere. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 24, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3734-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The animal band needs a vocalist. When the four beastly friends learn about the Talent Show, they practice day and night. With Croc on piano, Lion on trumpet, Bear on drums and Snake shaking the maracas, they think they have a shot to win. But something is missing; it's Bear who realizes, "If we want to win this thing, / One of us will have to sing." All four try vocals, but none succeed. A little red bird—the same bird whose musical aspirations they mocked just days before—arrives to help the animals, but again they reject him. Shortly after, a very tall and mysterious figure in a trenchcoat impresses the whole quartet. Even the youngest readers will delightedly guess that he's the bird in disguise (on stilts). Heartfelt apologies and a winning performance follow. Hodgkinson's light verse bounces along, and her illustrations are a riot of color; her four predatory instrumentalists look cute and harmless (if initially ungracious). A breezy nudge for the nascent little music maker. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7613-7487-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Andersen Press USA
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
Great for a rocking storytime and budding performers of all kinds, while quieter audience members can sit back and enjoy the...
The title strikes the right note, landing somewhere between a taunt and an invitation. Those intrigued will be rewarded by a wicked good time created by new picture-book partners Vernick and Edmunds.
Getting the autograph of a studded-leather-jacket–clad rocker with an impressively spiky Mohawk wows an enthusiastic blond-haired boy and his older brunette sister. As they sit in their room drawing pictures and imagining all the amazing things rock stars get to do, the author poses them such questions as, “Do you have an awesome sound system with cordless microphone?” Each question initially flummoxes the twosome, but the text guides them (and readers) in what to do: “Well, can you make your hand into a fist and sing into that? Try it.” Pencil-and–digitally painted illustrations portraying an air-guitar performance and choreography for the multigenerational family back-up dancers truly amp up the fun. Kids will giggle with grown-ups at the appropriately over-the-top plans for super-stardom (a TV show, a “you-movie” and a theme song) that are consistently translated into actions younger ones can practice or participate in.
Great for a rocking storytime and budding performers of all kinds, while quieter audience members can sit back and enjoy the show or get lost in the many colorfully designed guitar picks on the endpapers. Encore! (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8027-2092-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2011
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