A fun, free-wheeling word partay, if not quite carried all the way.
A breezy invitation to find rhymes in a set of visual tableaux.
As cues to what’s afoot, Rothman supplies leading one- or two-word comments and an occasional internal label—all of which are fun to read aloud in conjunction with Monsen’s illuminating illustrations. A portrait of a profoundly wrinkled dog, for instance, properly labeled “Shar-Pei,” is followed by “Not Shar-Pei” opposite a mugging Sharpie, then by a “Toupee,” which ends up on the dog’s head as a “Shar-Pei toupee.” Further sequences involve a bit of literal “Horseplay” and a yummy “gourmet buffet” complete with “sorbet” on the way to a “Birthday partay!” The art is likewise minimalist, but sharper viewers may also pick out a blue jay in one scene, a can of hair spray in another, and other unlabeled items; a list of these tucked in at the end offers some help. Nor are the author and illustrator above a certain amount of fudging: Watch out for that pile of “Shar-Pei poo-pay,” and good luck figuring out that the pins stuck on a tiny, unmarked globe are supposed to locate Santa Fe and Norway. Whether by accident or design, at least there’s no pig Latin. Of the three human figures pictured, one is brown-skinned and the others are light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A fun, free-wheeling word partay, if not quite carried all the way. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: July 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-26581-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent.
Wouldn’t the same housecat look very different to a dog and a mouse, a bee and a flea, a fox, a goldfish, or a skunk?
The differences are certainly vast in Wenzel’s often melodramatic scenes. Benign and strokable beneath the hand of a light-skinned child (visible only from the waist down), the brindled cat is transformed to an ugly, skinny slinker in a suspicious dog’s view. In a fox’s eyes it looks like delectably chubby prey but looms, a terrifying monster, over a cowering mouse. It seems a field of colored dots to a bee; jagged vibrations to an earthworm; a hairy thicket to a flea. “Yes,” runs the terse commentary’s refrain, “they all saw the cat.” Words in italics and in capital letters in nearly every line give said commentary a deliberate cadence and pacing: “The cat walked through the world, / with its whiskers, ears, and paws… // and the fish saw A CAT.” Along with inviting more reflective viewers to ruminate about perception and subjectivity, the cat’s perambulations offer elemental visual delights in the art’s extreme and sudden shifts in color, texture, and mood from one page or page turn to the next.
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5013-0
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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