"Mean?" That's McBroom's opening word here, and before he's through regaling us with neighbor Heck Jones' cussedness, he's got the old pest laid up in his parlor, claiming a broken leg. It seems the only way to get Heck Jones out is for McBroom to agree to a footrace, with "my farm against yours" as the stake. And that's well and good except that Heck Jones shows up for the race on a mongrel beast he identifies as a jackalope, and McBroom has no choice but to mount his giant "bull chicken" Gertrude, who stops along the way to browse on cockleburs. Fleischman schedules the race at the end of a cold winter, so there are more complications—folks' shadows have been frozen to the ground all winter, and when Heck Jones goes back for his he puts on a wolf shadow by mistake. Then just as the shadow loses Heck Jones the race (never mind how), the new schoolhouse collapses because the nails he had sold the town to build it were really icicles, now melting in the general thaw. Fleischman seems to toss all these whoppers together without half trying. Let's hope he doesn't begin to run clown just when he's found Lorraine, whose kindergarten-style pictures match not only Fleischman's helter-skelter rusticity but his wit and high spirits as well.
Pub Date: April 1, 1980
ISBN: 0316285684
Page Count: 74
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1980
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
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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