For little artists eager to spread some cheer with their glitter pens—on paper, of course.
Gloria, a little rhino, loves to spread “glittery happiness” in all her ventures.
Even though glitter is not a color, it is still Gloria’s favorite, as she uses it for everything she owns, giving her pants, slippers, and even scooter that extra “glitterama-razzamatazz.” Gloria scoots through town unperturbed about all the extra glitter she accidentally deposits on everyone and everything, leaving the town’s menagerie of anthropomorphic animal residents quite annoyed. “She glitzed up the plumbers, she spangled the drummers, she spritzed up the teachers and the long-distance runners.” Sweet, colorful cartoon paintings against a stark white background depict vexed workers and citizens, each with dabs of sparkly glitter on faces, feet, and bums. Protests of “No more glitter, Gloria!” are ignored by the little rhino, and, when everyone tries to clean up, things just get even messier. Then laughter breaks out, with the town finally accepting the happiness that Gloria’s trail of glitter inspires. Gloria’s unruffled composure makes for a whimsical counterpoint to the mostly rhyming text, the irregularity of which works surprisingly well. “Soon Gloria’s glitter had covered the entire town! There was some on the tower / and lots on the steeple, / As well as the market / and all of the people.”
For little artists eager to spread some cheer with their glitter pens—on paper, of course. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-039-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Skip it
This book wants to be feminist.
Princess Penelope Pineapple, illustrated as a white girl with dark hair and eyes, is the Amelia Bloomer of the Pineapple Kingdom. She has dresses, but she prefers to wear pants as she engages in myriad activities ranging from yoga to gardening, from piloting a plane to hosting a science fair. When it’s time for the Pineapple Ball, she imagines wearing a sparkly pants outfit, but she worries about Grand Lady Busyboots’ disapproval: “ ‘Pants have no place on a lady!’ she’d say. / ‘That’s how it has been, and that’s how it shall stay.’ ” In a moment of seeming dissonance between the text and art, Penny seems to resolve to wear pants, but then she shows up to the ball in a gown. This apparent contradiction is resolved when the family cat, Miss Fussywiggles, falls from the castle into the moat and Princess Penelope saves her—after stripping off her gown to reveal pink, flowered swimming trunks and a matching top. Impressed, Grand Lady Busyboots resolves that princesses can henceforth wear whatever they wish. While seeing a princess as savior rather than damsel in distress may still seem novel, it seems a stretch to cast pants-wearing as a broadly contested contemporary American feminist issue. Guthrie and Oppenheim’s unimaginative, singsong rhyme is matched in subtlety by Byrne’s bright illustrations.
Skip it . (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2603-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Though this celebration of community is joyful, there just is not much here.
A sugary poem, very loosely based on the familiar song, lacks focus.
Using only the refrain from the original (“One love, one heart, let’s get together and feel all right!”), the reggae great’s daughter Cedella Marley sees this song as her “happy song” and adapts it for children. However, the adaptation robs it of life. After the opening lines, readers familiar with the original song (or the tourism advertisement for Jamaica) will be humming along only to be stopped by the bland lines that follow: “One love, what the flower gives the bee.” and then “One love, what Mother Earth gives the tree.” Brantley-Newton’s sunny illustrations perfectly reflect the saccharine quality of the text. Starting at the beginning of the day, readers see a little girl first in bed, under a photograph of Bob Marley, the sun streaming into her room, a bird at the window. Each spread is completely redundant—when the text is about family love, the illustration actually shows little hearts floating from her parents to the little girl. An image of a diverse group getting ready to plant a community garden, walking on top of a river accompanies the words “One love, like the river runs to the sea.”
Though this celebration of community is joyful, there just is not much here. (afterword) (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4521-0224-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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