by Shoshanna Kirk ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2008
Along the lines of A Is For Astronaut (2006) and C Is For Caboose (2007), this nautical alphabet offers two to four relevant terms starting with each letter, from “Anchor” to “Zulu” (“A Scottish fishing boat”). Along with one-line definitions, the words are accompanied by illustrations that range from simple outline drawings to period prints or old photos. O, for instance, features a red “Ocean liner” steaming across the gray, wood-grain textured background, a black-and-white photograph of a bearded “Old Salt” framed in an oval of rope and a graphically slick color image of speedboats powered by “Outboard motors.” Though slang, official terms, sayings, expressions and ship-types are jumbled together, a spread of sailors’ knots for “K” and a closing cutaway of a generic sailing vessel, critical parts labeled, are highlights, and young would-be tars looking for a quick browse should be drawn in. (Informational picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8118-6094-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2008
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by Robin Pulver & illustrated by Lynn Rowe Reed ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2006
The creators of Punctuation Takes a Vacation (2003) sentence readers to a good time with this follow-up. Feeling left out after the children in Mr. Wright’s class thunder outside for a Field Day, the nouns and verbs left in the classroom decide to organize events of their own. But having chosen like parts of speech for partners—“Glue, Markers and Tape stuck together. Shout wanted to be with Cheer. So did Chew and Eat.”—it quickly becomes apparent that as opposing teams they can’t actually do anything. Depicting the Nouns as objects and the Verbs as hyperactive v-shaped figures, Rowe creates a set of high-energy scenes, climaxing in a Tug of Words and other contests once the participants figure out that they’ll work better mixed rather than matched. This playful introduction to words recalls Ruth Heller’s Kites Sail High (1998) and Merry-Go-Round (1990) for liveliness, and closes with several simple exercises and games to get children into the act. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: March 15, 2006
ISBN: 0-8234-1982-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
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by Robin Pulver ; illustrated by Stephanie Roth Sisson
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Awards & Accolades
Our Verdict
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New York Times Bestseller
Caldecott Honor Book
by Brendan Wenzel ; illustrated by Brendan Wenzel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 30, 2016
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent.
Awards & Accolades
Our Verdict
GET IT
New York Times Bestseller
Caldecott Honor Book
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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More by Beth Ferry
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by Beth Ferry ; illustrated by Brendan Wenzel
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