An unexpected twist and wacky, well-rendered illustrations keep this simple picture book from skewing a bit preachy and...
In this mildly scary, funny picture book, a mom’s bedtime-story ploy encourages her little boy to clean up his messy room or risk attracting the attention of a hungry “sock monster.”
In her first picture book, author Campbell (Scream: A Lakeview Novel, 2015) imparts a tidy-up lesson with gentle humor, enhanced by artist Thieme’s quirky illustrations. Little Billy’s idea of picking up his dirty laundry at the end of the day is to stuff it under the bed and in any available closet or corner. When Billy asks for a scary bedtime story, his mom, a savvy sort who isn’t above using a tricky scare tactic to make a point, decides the time is right for a particularly apt tale about a sneaky, slithery, laundry-hungry Sock Monster with a penchant for hiding under beds with found footwear. (The book’s target audience will undoubtedly get “ew, gross” enjoyment out of Campbell’s description: “his head is made of underwear. His arms are dirty socks.” And, “he slurps and burps and gathers dirt, loving all the goo.”) Billy’s not thrilled with the direction the story takes, and when Mom says goodnight and turns off the light, he, unsurprisingly, has trouble going to sleep, imagining that every sound—dog scratching, pet mouse squeaking—is the Sock Monster, attracted by Billy’s messy “clean-up.” Billy knows that there is just one thing to do. He gathers up all of his potential Sock Monster fodder and fills his laundry basket. Humorously, the author doesn’t let Mom rest easy on her laurels, however. Adults will appreciate the fun little visual twist at the end, courtesy of illustrator Thieme, which gives Mom a taste of her own medicine. (Kids will, too, although they may need the joke explained to them.) Indeed, the appeal of this lighthearted “message” picture book is due in great part to the offbeat charm of Thieme’s colorful illustrations.
An unexpected twist and wacky, well-rendered illustrations keep this simple picture book from skewing a bit preachy and dark, despite its clean-your-room lesson.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5174-5699-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The greening of Dr. Seuss, in an ecology fable with an obvious message but a savingly silly style. In the desolate land of the Lifted Lorax, an aged creature called the Once-ler tells a young visitor how he arrived long ago in the then glorious country and began manufacturing anomalous objects called Thneeds from "the bright-colored tufts of the Truffula Trees." Despite protests from the Lorax, a native "who speaks for the trees," he continues to chop down Truffulas until he drives away the Brown Bar-ba-loots who had fed on the Tuffula fruit, the Swomee-Swans who can't sing a note for the smogulous smoke, and the Humming-Fish who had hummed in the pond now glumped up with Gluppity-Glupp. As for the Once-let, "1 went right on biggering, selling more Thneeds./ And I biggered my money, which everyone needs" — until the last Truffula falls. But one seed is left, and the Once-let hands it to his listener, with a message from the Lorax: "UNLESS someone like you/ cares a whole awful lot,/ nothing is going to get better./ It's not." The spontaneous madness of the old Dr. Seuss is absent here, but so is the boredom he often induced (in parents, anyway) with one ridiculous invention after another. And if the Once-let doesn't match the Grinch for sheer irresistible cussedness, he is stealing a lot more than Christmas and his story just might induce a generation of six-year-olds to care a whole lot.
Pub Date: Aug. 12, 1971
ISBN: 0394823370
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1971
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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