Unmistakably message-driven (“YOU know what’s good for them”) yet silly and light.
In this unexpected take on screen addiction, an Indian import, an unnamed girl convinces her parents that they, too, can have fun away from their pods and pads.
On “most days,” Daddy can be found referring to recipes on his wireless device, and Mommy, on the couch, snacking and tapping on her laptop. But, when the Wi-Fi goes down, Mommy “howls” and Daddy “bellows.” They “whine” and “whimper.” “Mommy! Daddy! BEHAVE! It is NOT the end of the world,” says the ingenious protagonist, and she takes her parents out into the “big wide world out there”: They climb trees, play soccer, and buy hot chai from the street vendor. While the parents display a reluctance stereotypical to screen-focused children, the young protagonist mirrors parental responses, with “knit…brows” and firmness. Young readers will likely get the joke. When the family returns home, the Wi-Fi is still down, but now they “have other things to think about. Like the clouds and the breeze and the trees.” The identity of the second-person narrator is revealed at the end, which is yet another humorous turnabout. Ananth’s muted, posterlike illustrations are not India-specific (save, perhaps, for the tea stall), and they feature a multigenerational, middle-class brown family that might be found anywhere in the diaspora.
Unmistakably message-driven (“YOU know what’s good for them”) yet silly and light. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-939547-43-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Creston
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy.
Robo-parents Diode and Lugnut present daughter Cathode with a new little brother—who requires, unfortunately, some assembly.
Arriving in pieces from some mechanistic version of Ikea, little Flange turns out to be a cute but complicated tyke who immediately falls apart…and then rockets uncontrollably about the room after an overconfident uncle tinkers with his basic design. As a squad of helpline techies and bevies of neighbors bearing sludge cake and like treats roll in, the cluttered and increasingly crowded scene deteriorates into madcap chaos—until at last Cath, with help from Roomba-like robodog Sprocket, stages an intervention by whisking the hapless new arrival off to a backyard workshop for a proper assembly and software update. “You’re such a good big sister!” warbles her frazzled mom. Wiesner’s robots display his characteristic clean lines and even hues but endearingly look like vaguely anthropomorphic piles of random jet-engine parts and old vacuum cleaners loosely connected by joints of armored cable. They roll hither and thither through neatly squared-off panels and pages in infectiously comical dismay. Even the end’s domestic tranquility lasts only until Cathode spots the little box buried in the bigger one’s packing material: “TWINS!” (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52% of actual size.)
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-544-98731-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
A nice cap to a solid series: year-round fun.
Rotner completes her quartet of peeks at the four seasons with this last entry looking at the pleasures of summer.
As with the others, the book starts off with the changes that signal summer’s arrival: bigger, greener leaves; longer, warmer days; fluffy clouds amid blue skies. People dress for the warmer weather and wear protection from the sun: sunglasses, hats, and sunblock. Lemonade, water, Popsicles, and watermelon help quench thirst. The occasional rain cools things off and helps gardens flourish and berries ripen. Insects abound (no mention of mosquitoes, gnats or black flies, though), and “we celebrate summer with fireworks, picnics, and barbecues.” Playing outside, visiting fairs, going to the beach, cooling off with water in all sorts of ways, biking, fishing, camping, and enjoying nature are just some of the activities that fill summer days, and animals are just as busy. The text ends, as they all do, with a look forward to the next season. Rotner’s photos highlight diverse children enjoying the summer weather and treats, though many of the kids look overly posed. Still, readers would be hard-pressed not to identify with at least a few of the many activities highlighted here.
A nice cap to a solid series: year-round fun. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3977-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
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