A fun rhyming tale with a solid message undermined by mediocre illustrations.
Diverse woodland creatures come together to celebrate and eat in debut author Kaplan’s picture book with illustrations by Kumar (Tuck-In Tuesday, 2018, etc.).
A squirrel with a bullhorn invites every animal in the forest to sit down at a table that’s laden with fruits and vegetables. In rhyming text, Kaplan plays with naming conventions in several languages: “Mrs. Cat, Mr. Dog / Señor Bird, Monsieur Frog.” A wolf and a lamb sit next to a blue, polka-dot rabbit; other animals include bears, insects, a porcupine with an oddly ducklike snout, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and a calf that looks like a miniature adult, complete with horns. An image of the entire table shows the group getting along and behaving courteously. Amid the silly rhyming combinations, which will entertain young readers, Kaplan’s message is clear: If these different creatures can get along, shouldn’t humans with less significant differences be able to get along, too? The author’s rhyming text flows smoothly and offers an assortment of creatures that children will enjoy. Kumar’s cartoonish illustrations (including some for kids to color at the end) feature some identical plates of food, giving the feast a copied-and-pasted feel, and the animals look more like dolls than actual forest creatures.
A fun rhyming tale with a solid message undermined by mediocre illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-692-14679-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: BHP Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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