Fans of the first book should be pleased with this second outing, particularly the return of the Hay Bale Market owner, and...
Tharp and Heath (Gertrude and Toby’s Friday Adventure, 2015) return to their rural setting of mixed-up fairy tales as a brave goat and tortoise land on the top of a giant beanstalk.
When the county fair takes Farmer Sam and his son away for the day, Gertrude the goat gets a brilliant idea: she and her best friend, the tortoise Toby, can go adventuring again. As soon as the farmer’s big trailer takes off, the duo sets out into the woods. Toby’s sure they’re being followed, and it’s true: a magic flying carpet is trailing them, just in time to rescue a pair of children running away from a witch. Toby and Gertrude soon join the rescued Hansel and Gretel to head into town, but as they near Hay Bale Market, they realize that their friend the Gingerbread Man has been caught in a giant beanstalk. There’s nothing to do but take the magic carpet up, up, and away and rescue him from the giant’s house, where he’s imprisoned in a cage. Gertrude’s quick thinking and bold plan should appeal to young readers, and her pal Toby’s deliberate word choices (“I declare” and “Indeed!” are among his repeated phrases) offer a tortoise who speaks carefully rather than slowly. While an earring is an unlikely lock pick and Hansel and Gretel’s sudden happy ending involving the market owner feels unearned, the appearances of well-known fairy-tale characters should appeal to preschoolers and newly independent elementary readers. The illustrations add charm, from the comically oversized pig in the opening to the Gingerbread Man’s mad dash once he reaches safety (the small cast of ordinary folks, however, lacks diversity). Toby’s wide blue eyes and buzz cut and Gertrude’s humanlike goat face make them easy to empathize with, but Hansel and Gretel, despite their escape from the witch, never show much depth or agency in either the text or the images. The giant, while delightfully slovenly, is unlikely to scare anyone, making this a safe choice for squeamish young fairy-tale lovers.
Fans of the first book should be pleased with this second outing, particularly the return of the Hay Bale Market owner, and newcomers will likely enjoy the spunky heroes and famous characters.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9969679-4-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Atlas Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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