Imaginative but eerie; the illustrations demand sturdy as well as fanciful readers.
A picture book about the antics of the imaginary night children.
This cyclic story tells of night children and their nighttime activities, which are, to put it prosaically, anthropomorphized natural events: “It is the night children who chase fireflies until the yard looks full of yellow stars….who rip the leaves off trees….who string gossamer webs across doorways and trees.” Tsiang’s lyric prose gently probes the mystery of the waking and sleeping worlds in her undeniably richly imagined story, but Bodet’s illustrations give it a darker tone. She renders the night children as ephemeral creatures shaped like human children, dressed alike in white and gray, and wearing monster-face hats pulled all the way down to their mostly expressionless mouths. She sets many scenes in stark—and dark—city streets, creating an atmosphere of mystery that verges on creepy. Both the writing and the illustrations work—but separately; the two don’t mesh well together. Tsiang’s words seem to tell of a night filled with innocent imaginative enchantment, while Bodet’s pictures give a scarier impression. The story ends in the light of day, with the city streets replaced by a comfortable suburb, which helps lighten the overall tone.
Imaginative but eerie; the illustrations demand sturdy as well as fanciful readers. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-55451-723-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An amiable continuation of the series.
With the school carnival approaching, why isn’t Spork excited about it?
Galaxy Scout Spork has been learning about Earth and earthlings in Mrs. Buckle’s third-grade class for a while now. In this volume, the rest of the class is focused on planning the school carnival, but Spork seems a bit reticent. When Mrs. Buckle brings kindness into the discussion, Trixie Lopez wants to prove “she could be the kindest kid in the whole third grade,” but it’s not so easy. Thinking Spork is homesick, she proposes a space theme for the carnival, but far from making him happy, it seems to worry him. Will Trixie find a way to be kind? And what is bothering Spork? This kindness-themed entry in the How to Be an Earthling series, which focuses on character traits, is a bit convoluted; simultaneously released volumes Alien in the Outfield, by Lori Haskins Houran (perseverance), May the Votes Be with You, by Harkrader (citizenship), and Money Doesn’t Grow on Mars, by Houran (self-control) integrate their lessons a bit more seamlessly. However, readers new to chapters likely won’t notice and will identify with the ethnically diverse denizens of Mrs. Buckle’s class. Series illustrator Warrick contributes many black-and-white cartoon illustrations of wide-eyed, expressive kids with different skin tones; Trixie has medium-brown skin, and Mrs. Buckle is black. Activities in the backmatter round out the lessons.
An amiable continuation of the series. (Science fiction. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-57565-847-6
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Kane Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
An unconscionably tardy return for the young imagineer of the incomparable Adele’s Album (1988)—welcome back! (Graphic early...
A bucket, a small shovel, and an unfettered imagination are all it takes to transform a visit to a sandbox in a crowded public park into a brilliant adventure.
All young Adele needs to do is give her bucket a tap. The sand inside crawls out on its own to dance, buildings and parent-bearing benches in the background float out of the frame, and nearby toys and trees acquire smiling faces. Then down a Sand Dragon’s gaping maw tumble Adele and her newly animate companions to meet a tantrum-prone king, fly beneath a cloud of fluffy chicks, perch in a hot dog tree, and land on “a DESSERT island.” “Yummy! Eat up now,” says Adele gaily. “Who KNOWS what will happen next.” Indeed. Ponti slips in Sendak-ian caricatures and other sight gags as he propels his white child and her motley crew of tiny fellow travelers on. (All, except for an anxious toy aptly named Stuffy, are clearly having a grand time.) They proceed through a series of suddenly transformed settings to a final slide down a giant’s tongue that delivers Adele and all back to the sandbox. Readers, particularly the newly independent ones at whom this is aimed, will delightedly join the outing.
An unconscionably tardy return for the young imagineer of the incomparable Adele’s Album (1988)—welcome back! (Graphic early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943145-16-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: TOON Books & Graphics
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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