With just four selections, the sound track is a bit underpowered, but the whimsical subtext sets this apart (a centimeter or...
To tinkly snatches of romantic music—triggered by a small detachable wand—a put-upon orphan and a prince meet the loves of their lives.
Readers are enlisted at the beginning to assist the fairy godmother by pulling the gold-foil–wrapped cardboard wand out of a niche in the front cover and at proper moments laying it down on designated areas of certain pages to cue magical high spots from coach to clinch. The retelling is a bland version of the classic tale in which Cinderella does all the chores even though her stepmother and stepsibs never even thank her (and in any case they drop out of sight abruptly, feet intact, once the glass slipper fits), and she goes on to spend her days “helping others and spreading kindness wherever she went.” It does take a rather contemporary twist at the end, though, as Cinderella and the prince become “the very best of friends” for several years before they actually marry, and they are an interracial couple (she white and he a man of color). The illustrations have a serigraphic, retro look, with a pink castle adding a whiff of Disney and a parade of vintage cars driving up to the ball providing a Jazz Age riff. On the other hand, Mander’s uncrowded group scenes at the ball and again at the end are decidedly mixed, with figures not only clad from a variety of eras, but showing a range of skin tones, mostly in brown. The batteries are replaceable.
With just four selections, the sound track is a bit underpowered, but the whimsical subtext sets this apart (a centimeter or so) from the common run. (Novelty/fairy tale. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-78603-166-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Lincoln Children's Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
An additional choice for young readers interested in animal traits.
When King Lion holds a race to honor the fastest animal, Cheetah easily wins the title.
Cheetah runs 75 miles per hour in the 100-yard dash, but all the other animals clamor to show their own great speeds in different kinds of contests. Large and small, land and sea animals, birds and beasts, reptiles and insects: They tell their king the facts about their abilities. Husky says: “I am the fastest over long distances.” Ostrich wants all participants to “run on two legs to be fair to everyone.” A sea turtle thinks that the race should be held in the water, an idea heartily endorsed by a black marlin. A majestic peregrine falcon insists on the sky because these birds fly at 240 miles per hour, but a small free-tailed bat pipes up and says that the race “should be at night!” What’s a wise ruler to do? The king creates “an Olympics” with multiple events. Realistic illustrations in a somewhat dull palette of browns, blues, and greens bring animals together (not always to scale) in a dusty savanna landscape. The folkloric telling contrasts with the factual speeds of the animals included in the text. Educational activities in the backmatter, some beyond the ability of the intended readers of the main text, focus on mathematical and scientific comparisons. A Spanish-language edition publishes simultaneously in paperback only.
An additional choice for young readers interested in animal traits. (bibliography) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-60718-739-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Arbordale Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lively once-over that gets further beneath the skin of its subject than first glances might suggest.
A stylish introduction to the structures and functions of cells, starting on “the derrière of a Boston terrier.”
Congratulating readers on being the owners of “37 trillion high-performance cells,” canine skin cell Ellie defines them as the difference between living and nonliving things. She then goes on to explain that each “itty-bitty building block” from red blood cell to sperm and egg has one or more jobs, how mitochondria and other organelles contribute to the effort, and (with help from a “cellfie”) how cells make more cells. Fisher incorporates text large and small in hand-lettered styles into swirling, exuberant painted images that more often suggest rather than clinically depict various sorts of cells and creatures made up of them; they definitely capture the breezy vein of the cellular tour, however. Ellie doesn’t get to a few things—meiosis, for instance, or viruses—but she covers considerable territory…and once she’s done (“I gotta split!”), the author finishes off with jokes, a source note for the “37 trillion” claim, and leads to more-detailed surveys of the topic.
A lively once-over that gets further beneath the skin of its subject than first glances might suggest. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5185-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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