In stylish, quip-laden scenes, Collins (Fairy Nuff, p. 801, etc.) presents a picky eater extraordinaire. Alvie’s first word? Not “Daddy,” not “Mama,” but “Mulligatawny,” and ever afterward he has refused to dine on anything else. Parental concern changes to panic when Granny Franny, world-renowned chef (“ ‘The irony,’ said Alvie’s Dad, ‘The shame’ said Alvie’s mom”) announces that she’s paying a call. Frantic, the parents try depriving him (scene of Alvie in jail), overindulging him (scene of Alvie as round as an onion, calling for more), analyzing him (Alvie on the couch surrounded by assorted shrinks). But Alvie finds a soulmate when Granny disdains a table groaning with tasty comestibles, regally announcing that she only eats peas. All of the dialogue is set in boxes, as is the recipe for Mulligatawny Soup. Cheery, beneath a flyaway mop of strawy hair, and observed from any number of quirky angles, Alvie skips merrily across the pages, serenely indifferent to his frenzied parents’ tricks and stratagems. As the back cover says: “Contains nutcases suitable for vegetarians”—and a surefire recipe for chuckles. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-439-27260-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In his third beginning reader about Otto the robot, Milgrim (See Otto, 2002, etc.) introduces another new friend for Otto, a little mouse named Pip. The simple plot involves a large balloon that Otto kindly shares with Pip after the mouse has a rather funny pointing attack. (Pip seems to be in that I-point-and-I-want-it phase common with one-year-olds.) The big purple balloon is large enough to carry Pip up and away over the clouds, until Pip runs into Zee the bee. (“Oops, there goes Pip.”) Otto flies a plane up to rescue Pip (“Hurry, Otto, Hurry”), but they crash (and splash) in front of some hippos with another big balloon, and the story ends as it begins, with a droll “See Pip point.” Milgrim again succeeds in the difficult challenge of creating a real, funny story with just a few simple words. His illustrations utilize lots of motion and basic geometric shapes with heavy black outlines, all against pastel backgrounds with text set in an extra-large typeface. Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be welcome additions to the limited selection of funny stories for children just beginning to read. (Easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-85116-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
Floyd and Denise update “The Tortoise and the Hare” for primary readers, captioning each soft-focus, semi-rural scene with a short, simple sentence or two. Rabbit proposes running to school, while his friend Turtle takes the bus: no contest at first, as the bus makes stop after deliberate stop, but because Rabbit pauses at a pushcart for a snack, a fresh-looking Turtle greets his panting, disheveled friend on the school steps. There is no explicit moral, but children will get the point—and go on to enjoy Margery Cuyler’s longer and wilder Road Signs: A Harey Race with a Tortoise (p. 957). (Easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-202679-7
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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