READ THIS BOOK IF YOU DON'T WANT A STORY

Name: READ THIS BOOK IF YOU DON'T WANT A STORY
Author: Richard Phillips
ISBN: 978-0-88448-705-0

by Richard Phillips ; illustrated by Eric Zelz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2019

A decent-enough addition to the shelf of stories about stories, marred only by a questionable choice from the illustrator.

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What chance does a blocked narrator have when all the words, characters, readers, and even the page numbers gather round to offer motivation?

Having a codex for a body but otherwise bearing an ill-considered resemblance to the Frito Bandito, “The Book With No Story” opens with a scenery-chewing tally of what not to expect: ”I’ll show you no pictures, no scares and no thrills, / no cows on trapezes, no fish with big gills, / no polar bears on snowboards, no quacking duck bills….” This list is interrupted at, literally, every turn by argumentative page numbers and a burgeoning cast of characters…led by a huge polar bear. Book’s stubborn refusal to cooperate only lasts until the chorus invites a diverse squad of young readers to join in a group bear hug, then a hearty shake that gets the creative juices flowing. Though in his mix of verse and prose Phillips isn’t much for regular cadences, he does have a way with quick, galloping rhyme. He also strews this meta-tale with enticing story starters (“Once upon a time, Prince Pork Chop Lover discovered that Princess Leaping Pickle had been kidnapped by a Giant Woolly Tundra Snail”) and closes with words of encouragement to all young storysmiths: “Imagine a poem. / Imagine a play. / But don’t ever imagine / you have nothing to say.”

A decent-enough addition to the shelf of stories about stories, marred only by a questionable choice from the illustrator. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-88448-705-0

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Tilbury House

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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THE ADVENTURES OF HENRY WHISKERS

From the Adventures of Henry Whiskers series , Vol. 1

by Gigi Priebe ; illustrated by Daniel Duncan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 3, 2017

Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales.

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The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) upgrades to The Mice and the Rolls-Royce.

In Windsor Castle there sits a “dollhouse like no other,” replete with working plumbing, electricity, and even a full library of real, tiny books. Called Queen Mary’s Dollhouse, it also plays host to the Whiskers family, a clan of mice that has maintained the house for generations. Henry Whiskers and his cousin Jeremy get up to the usual high jinks young mice get up to, but when Henry’s little sister Isabel goes missing at the same time that the humans decide to clean the house up, the usually bookish big brother goes on the adventure of his life. Now Henry is driving cars, avoiding cats, escaping rats, and all before the upcoming mouse Masquerade. Like an extended version of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), Priebe keeps this short chapter book constantly moving, with Duncan’s peppy art a cute capper. Oddly, the dollhouse itself plays only the smallest of roles in this story, and no factual information on the real Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is included at the tale’s end (an opportunity lost).

Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales. (Fantasy. 6-8)

Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4814-6575-5

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Aladdin

Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

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HOW TO CATCH A GINGERBREAD MAN

From the How To Catch… series

by Adam Wallace ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 3, 2021

A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.

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The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.

Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.

A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)