by Stephen Shaskan ; illustrated by Stephen Shaskan ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2018
Those training to take over the family business, like Toad, may find this amusing, but others should steer clear.
Mama and Toad and their bright red tow truck save several friends from roadside mishaps.
“Mama and Toad out on the road. / Go, Mama, go! Go, little toad! / Why, who’s that friend / around the bend? / Alas! Alas! / It’s a… // Goat out of gas!” Mama and Toad know just what to do to get the driver of the truck labeled “Bob’s Bounce Houses” back on the road. They also encounter a “Fox with a flat” and a “Moose in the muck” whose balloons and pizza (both also from Bob’s) need to be delivered. Shaskan’s digital illustrations have a Saturday-morning–cartoon look, with their bright, flat colors and simple backgrounds. In a nice touch, small Toad, who uses a car seat, is shown getting their hands dirty with each rescue, pouring the gas, jacking up the car, even removing the lug nuts. In the end, the toads and their friends wind up in the same place: a party thanking the two for all their help. That’s a puzzler since not only do the toads encounter their friends when they are going in opposite directions on the road, but their friends were getting ready for the party before the toads had helped any of them. Plus, the rhythm of the repeated refrain rests on those reading aloud forcing the enunciation of all four syllables of “delivery.”
Those training to take over the family business, like Toad, may find this amusing, but others should steer clear. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-239349-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
More by Stephen Shaskan
BOOK REVIEW
by Stephen Shaskan ; illustrated by Stephen Shaskan
BOOK REVIEW
by Stephen Shaskan ; illustrated by Stephen Shaskan
BOOK REVIEW
by Trisha Speed Shaskan ; illustrated by Stephen Shaskan
by Jimmy Fallon ; illustrated by Miguel Ordóñez ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Share your opinion of this book
More by Jimmy Fallon
BOOK REVIEW
by Jimmy Fallon & Jennifer Lopez ; illustrated by Andrea Campos
More About This Book
SEEN & HEARD
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2014
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
by Audrey Penn & illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
More by Audrey Penn
BOOK REVIEW
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
BOOK REVIEW
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Mike Yamada
BOOK REVIEW
by Audrey Penn & illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.