A nuanced and delightful entry in a tried-and-true series.
In Keres’ latest picture-book series installment, a frog may be ready to try something new.
Finn the Frog usually likes his home on the page to be tidy: No doodles allowed by readers—only pictures by the book’s illustrator, Arthur Lin. But at the beginning of this story, Finn decides to try something different and ask his mostly unseen reader for assistance: “I’ve always wanted to look STRONGER. These arms are so thin, I can barely see them. You think you could help with that?” The results are encouraging and even exciting, so Finn decides to ask for more changes. He requests glasses, some hair on his head, and pants to round out his new self. As the changes pile up, he becomes increasingly nervous, until he’s frantic to put things back the way they were. As in the previous installments of Keres’ series, Finn is fun and engaging because he breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the reader. Those familiar with his antics will be impressed that he wants to broaden his horizons, and this may help youngsters to learn about the ups and downs of doing the same themselves. Lin’s full-color cartoon illustrations are all enjoyable—and laugh-out-loud funny on the last two pages.
A nuanced and delightful entry in a tried-and-true series.Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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