A chortle-worthy, if sketchy, continuation of Ganesha: The Wonder Years (2015).
The elephant-headed—and, here, -bodied—Hindu god throws his considerable weight around in this lunar pourquoi tale.
So annoyed is Ganesha after being tripped up by a snake that he condemns the guffawing Moon to darkness: “There, this from now / on shall be your curse, / to be hidden forever, / be glad it’s not worse!” “NOOOO,” wails the Moon, and “WHAT’S HAPPENING??” cry frightened villagers. Even the gods are frightened, and so at their appeal, Shiva gently guides his pachydermatous offspring into a compromise that allows the Moon to cycle monthly from dark to light “and everything in between.” This well-known traditional episode is available in more elaborated versions in Uma Krishnaswami’s collection The Broken Tusk, illustrated by Maniam Selven (1996), and widely online. Here it is related in lumbering verse and illustrated cartoon-style in large sequential panels. Clad in a loincloth that looks rather like a red-and-yellow diaper, portly Ganesha cuts a comical figure, though his innate good nature isn’t really in evidence. Still, both his mighty pratfall and the broad-faced Moon’s exaggerated expressions of glee, dismay, and finally relief set a light tone.
A chortle-worthy, if sketchy, continuation of Ganesha: The Wonder Years (2015). (sticker sheet) (Graphic folk tale. 5-8)Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-93-81182-16-1
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Campfire
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A snug, funny round of hijinks by low dogs.
Housebound wiener dogs Augie and Perry get up to no good when left on their own.
Posing his pooches on four legs or, anthropomorphically, two (or even, at the beginning, as busts on stands), Falconer takes a break from his long-running Olivia series to proffer as winsome a doggy duo as ever was. Drawn with great and often hilariously expressive precision—and frequently placed on entirely blank backgrounds to call attention to the fact—the two dachshunds appear at first glance as dignified as “little Roman emperors.” Appearances can be deceiving, though: “Most of the time Augie looked more serious. Perry was all over the place.” As their human family, never seen (except once as light-skinned hands), is gone all day at work or school, the dogs look for ways to relieve their boredom…first by tussling over a ball, then by figuring out how to open the back door to an exciting world of flowers to water, a pool to splash in, and, best of all, a lawn to excavate (“Dachshunds love to dig”). The sound of a car pulling in may touch off some momentary panic (“We’re going to get in TROUBLE, Augie!”), but dachshunds are also smart enough to run back inside and exude innocence convincingly enough to earn treats rather than punishment. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A snug, funny round of hijinks by low dogs. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-295447-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Michael di Capua/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Good, artfully delivered advice for would-be builders of any age.
A safety primer for budding construction engineers.
“Sketch a dream. Post a chart. / Hatch the plan before you start.” Donning sturdy boots and a hard hat, a blue dog sets out to design and build a house using both hand tools and heavy machinery. Each stage of the enterprise features a big, bright, very simple cartoon scene and a cautionary remark—from “Use your legs and not your back” when lifting loads and “come down steady” on a ladder to “Goggles on before you slice. / Cut just once—but measure twice.” Of course, there’s also a break for lunch. At last the dog and a small bird who has been looking on step back to admire their finished building and then head home to hang up the hard hat, hit the pillows, and dream of future projects. Kids will enjoy seeing the bird’s involvement, which ranges from reasonably credible, as when it perches on the dog’s hard hat while eyeing a worm at lunchtime, to the whimsically impossible, as when it helps the dog lift a cinder block by fluttering aloft while holding a string tied to one end in its beak.
Good, artfully delivered advice for would-be builders of any age. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0175-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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