Skip this, and stick with Karen Beaumont and Jackie Urbanovic’s No Sleep for the Sheep (2005) for a story with a catchy...
Rauss, winner of the 2010 Cheerios® New Author Contest, reveals the travails of poor Aiden McDoodle as he searches for a quiet spot to get some sleep.
He tries upstairs, downstairs, the backyard and even the town park. But each place is too noisy: “In the library the whispers built up to a riot, / until the librarian stepped in and shouted out, ‘QUIET!’ ” When the noises of the baseball game, ice-cream truck, maintenance worker and the band practicing in the gazebo finally become too much, Aiden snaps. His plea for quiet is heard from sea to sea and into space. The world obligingly pauses long enough for him to run home, jump into bed and begin to snore before the noises resume. The lengthy lines of Rauss’ rhyming verse add to its sometimes-stumbling rhythm, and readers never find out just why Aiden is so tired, a fact that detracts from the humor, especially given his seemingly younger sister’s unflagging energy level. Shepperson’s watercolor-and-ink artwork add to this disconnect, as they depict a quite ordinary day—the noise level looks to be nothing extraordinary. But readers will certainly feel for the tired tyke, whose facial expressions say it all as he desperately tries to find some rest amid everyone else’s exuberance.
Skip this, and stick with Karen Beaumont and Jackie Urbanovic’s No Sleep for the Sheep (2005) for a story with a catchy rhythm that will really have listeners chiming in. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 5, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-3497-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Count on construction die-hards falling in love, but discerning readers would be wise to look elsewhere for their...
Less ambitious than Chris Gall’s widely known Dinotrux (2009) and sequels, this British import systematically relegates each dinosaur/construction-equipment hybrid to its most logical job.
The title figures are introduced as bigger than both diggers and dinosaurs, and rhyming text and two construction-helmeted kids show just what these creatures are capable of. Each diggersaur has a specific job to do and a distinct sound effect. The dozersaurus moves rocks with a “SCRAAAAPE!!!” while the rollersaurus flattens lumps with a cheery “TOOT TOOT!!” Each diggersaur is numbered, with 12 in all, allowing this to be a counting book on the sly. As the diggersaurs (not all of which dig) perform jobs that regular construction equipment can do, albeit on a larger scale, there is no particular reason why any of them should have dinosaurlike looks other than just ’cause. Peppy computer art tries valiantly to attract attention away from the singularly unoriginal text. “Diggersaurs dig with bites so BIG, / each SCOOP creates a crater. // They’re TOUGH and STRONG / with necks so long— / they’re super EXCAVATORS!” Far more interesting are the two human characters, a white girl and a black boy, that flit about the pictures offering commentary and action. Much of the fun of the book can be found in trying to spot them on every two-page spread.
Count on construction die-hards falling in love, but discerning readers would be wise to look elsewhere for their dino/construction kicks. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-4779-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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