by Scott M. Cohn ; illustrated by Scott M. Cohn ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2015
This silly but original story demonstrates that imagination can be both troubling and exhilarating.
Where are all the animals that keep making strange noises in this little girl’s house?
When a loud “QUACK” is heard as Daddy sits down to dinner, both mother and daughter look alarmed. Could that have been a duck he squashed? At least he said, “Excuse me!” And did the little girl hear a lion’s roar in her parents’ bedroom? All she finds is Daddy finishing a big yawn. She sees the silhouette of a gorilla in the shower and smells a hippo in the bathroom. The flummoxed girl asks her father about all the strange, hidden animals, and he responds cryptically, asking her if she’s ever “sailed on a walrus’s back through the sea” or “ridden a bald eagle up into the skies.” Here, readers see the girl happily riding on her father’s back while he swims and getting a ride up the staircase on her dad’s shoulders. The illustrations have the look of cut-paper collage and include such distinctive details as Daddy’s tattoo and heavy metal T-shirts. The verse is less openly subversive, carrying the fart and toilet jokes along in forced couplets. This book will work best with children old enough to understand that it’s her dad making all of these vulgar sounds (and smells); readers who share the little girl’s credulity will be as mystified as she is.
This silly but original story demonstrates that imagination can be both troubling and exhilarating. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 5, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-316-40749-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
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by Scott M. Cohn ; illustrated by Scott M. Cohn
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by Scott M. Cohn ; illustrated by Scott M. Cohn
by Kevin Jonas & Danielle Jonas ; illustrated by Courtney Dawson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 29, 2022
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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by Kevin Jonas & Danielle Jonas ; illustrated by Courtney Dawson
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 Craig Smith ; illustrated by Katz Cowley
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by Doug MacLeod ; illustrated by Craig Smith
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by Adam Osterweil and illustrated by Craig Smith
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