For some young readers, this level of ridiculousness, along with the unsophisticated illustrations, may make the book a...
In Stoltz’s (Deer Run, 2016, etc.) funny and anachronistic picture book, being different can save the day—especially if you’re a vegetarian dinosaur.
“Al was a T-Rex who didn’t like meat,” Stoltz opens, neatly establishing the story of a young dino who likes veggies and fruits, most especially strawberries. It isn’t that Al’s picky; he doesn’t even mind when bugs have made holes in his strawberries. It’s that he doesn’t like what all the other T. Rexes like to eat, and he’s mocked because of it. His parents don’t understand him, either. They take him to his chef aunt to learn to eat proper meals (they’re shown flying on a pteranodon to get there). When the stegosaurus steaks and dinosaur bones don’t change his mind, she throws up her tiny arms in defeat and sends him packing. A storm hits the valley, and all the T. Rex kids take shelter at the (very modern, locker-filled) school. A leafy tree blocks the exit, and no one can move it out of the way with their too-small arms. Al decides to eat his way out, and when the other youngsters aren’t willing to help, Al saves the day. While there’s a nice moral lesson here about valuing people with differences, kids will be less focused on that than on the silliness of the tale: dinosaur chefs! A vegetarian T. Rex who loves strawberries! A football team that can’t possibly catch or pass! The computer-designed, clip-art–esque illustrations may not inspire young artists, and the font choice doesn’t lend itself to readability, but anachronistic details (the aunt cooks on an outdoor grill) amuse, and the vocabulary is spot-on, especially for dinosaur fans who won’t stumble over “stegosaurus” or “prehistoric.”
Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2016
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 33
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Cookie-cutter predictability.
After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?
Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728274270
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
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