A fine addition to the word-book shelf, aside from that crocodile.
This multicultural take on a Busytown sort of place is rife with opportunities for I-spy reading and language acquisition.
The multigeneration, multiethnic Palabra family lives in a house that buzzes with activity. A helpful title-page illustration first introduces Mom, Dad, Pop Pop, Sam, May, Felix and Zanzibar the cat. There’s also an anthropomorphic crocodile named Crunchy—this is the only clear instance of fantasy to enter the little world, and while it might be intended for comic relief from page to page, it ends up undermining the earnest multicultural worldbuilding of the rest of the book. Multiracial families, same-sex couples, people using wheelchairs and others wearing hijab are just a few examples of the diversity of humanity that is included in the pictures, and Crunchy ends up seeming simply intrusive. Most of the story follows Pop Pop, Sam, Maya and, alas, Crunchy, as they go out into their town to visit the library, play in the park and have lunch. The brief narrative text introduces these activities, but the aim of the book is to invite perusal of spreads that are jam-packed with detailed, labeled pictures of people, places and things in the community. The boldly colored art adopts a naïve style with a folk-art sensibility that is accessible and engaging.
A fine addition to the word-book shelf, aside from that crocodile. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-78285-092-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Decidedly one-trick yet inspired and prettily designed.
Coppo adapts a 17th-century Italian magic trick for her latest meta excursion.
Tuxedoed Lady Rabbit welcomes her audience, acknowledging that wow-level magic is difficult to pull off in a book. Making something appear as if out of nowhere…well, “any book can do that!” But the titular claim bears out in cleverly designed pages. First, readers are told to scan a page of audience members (36 charmingly unique denizens arrayed in six rows) and to choose one member. Lady Rabbit then asks kids to identify the row of their seated pick by turning to a specific page. Uh-oh! Every audience member has changed seats! Again directed to a particular page based on their choice’s new row, readers will discover that Lady Rabbit has guessed their pick. All nine answer pages include the characters and the instruction: “I guessed it, didn’t I? Now go to page 39.” There, with a “TA-DA!” and a bow, the white rabbit invites kids to turn back to pages 12-13 to try again. Coppa’s finely inked floral borders and decorated proscenium arch, colored in black and white and muted greens and salmon, emanate a vintage feel. Kids will warm to amusing audience members such as Shroom, Yeti, and Unknown (a smiling question mark) and will delight in the various mini-creatures adorning each page. One downside of the trick’s interactivity: The six pages that redirect readers to the solution pages are visually identical.
Decidedly one-trick yet inspired and prettily designed. (historical note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781797229010
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent.
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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