An inspiring debut that highlights the importance of individuality and courage.
A boy ventures into the woods and witnesses the magical power of dance in this picture book.
While wandering in a forest, a youngster encounters “a grizzly bear dancing nimbly,” a “red fox twirling around a tree,” and a “bison teaching ballet” to other woodland creatures. The boy is introduced to both common animals (such as squirrels and raccoons) and rarely spotted ones (bighorn sheep, porcupines, and others), and he learns terms and movements associated with classical ballet, such as relevésand Pas de bourrées.” Soon, all the animals join a collective dance, and soon, “leaping lumberjacks” add some moves of their own. The little boy acknowledges that one can be both “strong and brave, and like ballet too.” Debut author MacElroy offers a quaint picture book that questions gender stereotypes via artful dance instruction. She indicates an essential harmony that people and animals share and hints that music has the ability to bring people together. The layout of the text is consistent throughout, resulting in a lovely flow that’s easy to follow. The subtle rhymes create an engaging story, while Dillard’s illustrations will capture readers with their detail and vibrant hues.
An inspiring debut that highlights the importance of individuality and courage.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-989819-22-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Golden Brick Road Publishing House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity.
Buzz and his buzzy buddy open a spinoff series of nonfiction early readers with an aquarium visit.
Buzz: “Like other fish, sharks breathe through gills.” Fly Guy: “GILLZZ.” Thus do the two pop-eyed cartoon tour guides squire readers past a plethora of cramped but carefully labeled color photos depicting dozens of kinds of sharks in watery settings, along with close-ups of skin, teeth and other anatomical features. In the bite-sized blocks of narrative text, challenging vocabulary words like “carnivores” and “luminescence” come with pronunciation guides and lucid in-context definitions. Despite all the flashes of dentifrice and references to prey and smelling blood in the water, there is no actual gore or chowing down on display. Sharks are “so cool!” proclaims Buzz at last, striding out of the gift shop. “I can’t wait for our next field trip!” (That will be Fly Guy Presents: Space, scheduled for September 2013.)
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity. (Informational easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-50771-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
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