A unique celebration of playful creativity.
Asked to find specific items for her friends, a well-intentioned magpie seems to get it all wrong—or does she?
Adept at “finding things,” the magpie asks her friends if there’s anything she can find for them. Weary of winter, the goat asks for “spring!” but is not amused when the magpie presents a metal spring. Feeling lonely, the mouse wants “another mouse” and is very disappointed with the computer mouse the magpie locates. The homeless hog wants “a pen of my very own” to live in, not the ballpoint pen the magpie finds. The hungry squirrel asks for a “nut” to eat, not the bit of hardware the magpie retrieves. After asking for a “pair of glasses,” the farsighted owl’s surprised when the magpie returns with drinking glasses. And the boy who asks for a baseball “bat” is terrified with the live bat the magpie tosses him. How could the magpie get everything so wrong? But with some “creative thinking,” the magpie’s friends eventually “turn blunders into wonders!” With its clever wordplay, the text humorously introduces the concept of homonyms. These are explained in a “Did You Know?” section in the backmatter while the “About the Art” section details how scrap artist Hundley assembled found objects on white backgrounds to produce the intriguing, striking illustrations, which appropriately reinforce the magpie’s penchant for finding things.
A unique celebration of playful creativity. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: March 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-6844-6214-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Capstone Editions
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Amusing but a little off tempo.
It’s important to hit all the right notes.
A tan-skinned musical composer with puffy black hair is busy at work on his next musical masterpiece when Half Note, a music symbol denoting two beats, feels unappreciated. Half Note is jealous of the more commonly used Quarter Note (one beat) and Eighth Note. Although the other musical symbols attempt to calm and comfort Half Note, she decides to run away. The next day, Composer needs Half Note and panics when he realizes that she’s gone. The other notes and musical symbols try to find her, but it’s only when they try to play her favorite song, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” without her—with terrible results—that she comes running back. The story’s humor—which is largely based on “dad joke” puns—is completely dependent on readers’ musical knowledge. The artwork, a mix of acrylic and colored pencil, attempts to add some allegrezza to the piece, and while it’s not unsuccessful, it’s facing an uphill battle. Music teachers and musically minded caregivers may find some value in this story, but it will likely be too specialized for general readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Amusing but a little off tempo. (glossary) (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-64567-631-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023
A quick, amusing read with an easily digestible environmental message; it is a perfect match for its young intended...
Third-grader Marty and her classmates are given a challenge by a visiting environmentalist: to develop Earth-friendly projects that she will then judge.
Third-grade imaginations are untamed and funny. After an ill-conceived paper-making plan destroys her parents’ food processor, Marty and her best friend Annie get involved in a worm-powered composting project that’s supposed to help with wasted cafeteria food. Other classmates build a giant Super-Earth-Woman out of recycled materials, grow petunias and create a recycling-reminder buzzer. Marty, determined to win, is frustrated when her worms can’t begin to keep up with the volume of garbage generated. She worries that all she has to show for her project is “a bunch of half-eaten carrot sticks and worm poop,” and she's convinced that those will never save the planet. Floca’s cheery black-and-white illustrations match the upbeat theme of the tale, and with at least one per brief chapter, they break up the text pages nicely. Marty’s first-person commentary, sometimes just a tiny bit sarcastic, splendidly conveys the eroding innocence of middle-graders.
A quick, amusing read with an easily digestible environmental message; it is a perfect match for its young intended audience. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-14245-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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