by Shelley Rotner & photographed by Shelley Rotner ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2001
Stunning full-color photographs and seven playful, brief poems about everyday objects will delight young viewers and care-givers who are invited to guess the objects described in word clues with several accompanying close-up photographs. For example, “Smooth and round / with a striped green skin / Red fruit, / black seeds hidden within / Garden ripe and / ready to eat / Taste the / WATERMELON, / juicy and sweet.” The co-author/photographer of The Body Book (2000), Rotner here targets the familiar and important everyday icons of a young child’s world with carefully chosen, intimate shots that invite repeated examination. Here is the tongue of a dog, a black wet nose, a half-curled tail, spotted fur, and then the double-page portrait of the whole dog with the punch line “A loyal DOG is one great pet.” Other poems feature a tulip, school bus, bike, a child, and home. Endpapers and the back cover suggest new poems the viewer might write: showing parts of a cantaloupe, flowering tree, or fire truck. A terrific way of getting children to think about the whole by seeing the parts. Great for reading aloud, too. (Poetry. 3-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8027-8753-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2001
Share your opinion of this book
More by Gwen Agna
BOOK REVIEW
by Gwen Agna & Shelley Rotner ; photographed by Shelley Rotner
BOOK REVIEW
by Shelley Rotner ; illustrated by Shelley Rotner
BOOK REVIEW
by Gwen Agna & Shelley Rotner ; photographed by Shelley Rotner
Awards & Accolades
Our Verdict
GET IT
Google Rating
New York Times Bestseller
IndieBound Bestseller
by B.J. Novak ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 30, 2014
A riotously fresh take on breaking the fourth wall.
Awards & Accolades
Our Verdict
GET IT
Google Rating
New York Times Bestseller
IndieBound Bestseller
This book may not have pictures, but it’s sure to inspire lots of conversations—and laughs.
Television writer, actor and comedian Novak delivers a rare find, indeed: a very good celebrity picture book. It doesn’t even seem fair to call it such, since it has nothing to do with his Emmy Award–winning writing for The Office or the fame his broader career has afforded him. The jacket flap even eschews a glossy photo, instead saying “B.J. has brown hair and blue eyes,” in order to keep with the book’s central conceit. What this book does have is text, and it’s presented through artful typography that visually conveys its changing tone to guide oral readings. Furthermore, the text implies (or rather, demands) a shared reading transaction, in which an adult is compelled to read the text aloud, no matter how “COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS” it is. Employing direct address, it pleads with the implied child listener to allow him or her to stop reading. Nonsense words, silly words to be sung and even a smattering of potty talk for good measure all coalesce in riotous read-aloud fare. Although the closing pages beg the implied child reader to “please please please please / please / choose a book with pictures” for subsequent reading, it’s likely that this request will be ignored.
A riotously fresh take on breaking the fourth wall. (. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4171-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
Share your opinion of this book
by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Share your opinion of this book
More by Jimmy Fallon
BOOK REVIEW
by Jimmy Fallon & Jennifer Lopez ; illustrated by Andrea Campos
More About This Book
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.