For all young readers who have or are about to hit the road, Comedy Central–writer Eschbacher chronicles a family’s two-day trip to Grandma’s and back in short, bouncy verses. Wickstrom’s lighthearted cartoon scenes open with Mom, Dad and four siblings piling into a minivan, close with a sleepy slideshow of fond memories and, in between, capture a string of typical moments, from fumbling with “Maps”—“North, south, east, west, / No matter how you hold it, / A map can put you to the test / When you try to fold it.”—to games of “I Spy,” from contemplating a bug-splattered windshield (“Grasshoppers have greenish guts, / Beetles are more brownish. . . . ”) to stops at a motel, a roadside attraction and, at last, Grandma’s, where a festive family picnic awaits. Like Natasha Wing’s Night Before Summer Vacation (2002), illus by Julie Durrell, or Anne Rockwell’s primer, On Our Vacation (1989), this makes ideal reading before, during or after a long drive. (Picture book/poetry. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-8037-2927-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
At her best, Rylant’s (The Ticky-Tacky Doll, below, etc.) sweetness and sentiment fills the heart; in this outing, however, sentimentality reigns and the end result is pretty gooey. Pandora keeps a lighthouse: her destiny is to protect ships at sea. She’s lonely, but loves her work. She rescues Seabold and heals his broken leg, and he stays on to mend his shipwrecked boat. This wouldn’t be so bad but Pandora’s a cat and Seabold a dog, although they are anthropomorphized to the max. Then the duo rescue three siblings—mice!—and make a family together, although Rylant is careful to note that Pandora and Seabold each have their own room. Choosing what you love, caring for others, making a family out of love, it is all very well, but this capsizes into silliness. Formatted to look like the start of a new series. Oh, dear. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-84880-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002
Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-88240-575-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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