by Scott Hennesy & illustrated by Joe Lanzisero ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 19, 2013
Silly but fun, with a smidgen of information, too.
A medley of mewsicians from around the world makes up Leopold von Kittenkat's orcatstra, but where is his baton?
Page by page and quatrain by quatrain the Meowstro queries each of his instrumentalists, but when the baton doesn’t appear, the versatile conductor finds another way. The Disney background of both author and illustrator is evident in this slight but amusing story, their first picture book. But Fantasia was never like this. In Lanzisero’s whimsical illustrations, the players, all cats, have names and costumes that reflect national stereotypes: Swiss Miss Gabriele fiddles in a laced top and dirndl skirt; Taj, the Indian pungi-player, sports a Sikh turban; Sven, the Swedish trombonist, wears a Viking helmet. The musical instruments of this curious orchestra are surprising, too. Besides the traditional violin, oboe, trombone and harp, they include such oddities as bagpipes, a taiko drum, a didgeridoo and a concertina. All the instruments mentioned, as well as other musical words used, such as virtuoso and oompah-pah, are defined in a concluding glossary. The verse includes wordplay and rhymes that will make readers smile, but the beat is irregular; those who read this aloud may want to practice.
Silly but fun, with a smidgen of information, too. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 19, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4231-4583-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
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by Craig Smith ; illustrated by Katz Cowley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2010
Hee haw.
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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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by Tedd Arnold ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2013
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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