by Seymour Chwast ; illustrated by Seymour Chwast ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2015
Whether this meets a real need is debatable, but the format has its appeal for children still working on reading skills.
Following successful graphic adaptations of Canterbury Tales (2011) and The Odyssey (2012), Chwast ups the ante with Hugh Lofting’s more challenging classic. Good luck.
The abridgment necessary to squash the full-length novel into 32 illustrated pages allows Chwast to avoid through omission some but not all of the original’s controversies—“Jolliginki” and its African prince, Bumppo, with his yen to be white, go unmentioned—and update its fustian language (“What do you want?” asks the Pushmi-Pullyu. “We want you to go to England with Dr. Dolittle and put on shows”). The illustrations, likewise sketchy, feature a nattily attired doctor and his animal friends drawn simply in ink and pale colored pencil, all placed in spacious panels with legibly hand-lettered captions, chapter heads, and dialogue. These days, the 1920 original makes uncomfortable reading (and, with Lofting’s illustrations, viewing) even in bowdlerized contemporary editions. In this boiled-down form, its parochial attitudes can still be discerned…but so can those lightly presented themes of compassion and respect for all living things that have given it enduring value.
Whether this meets a real need is debatable, but the format has its appeal for children still working on reading skills. (Graphic classic. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-56846-258-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
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by Claudia Mills ; illustrated by Rob Shepperson ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2016
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
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by Claudia Mills ; illustrated by Grace Zong
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by Claudia Mills ; illustrated by Grace Zong
by Kwame Alexander & illustrated by Tim Bowers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2011
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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by Kwame Alexander & Deanna Nikaido ; illustrated by Melissa Sweet
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by Kwame Alexander ; illustrated by Dare Coulter
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