YAAAS! This lunch bunch serves pure silliness.
Anthropomorphic foodstuffs campaign for their own excellence.
Shaskan goes for the goofy with this graphic-early-reader series opener. Each of the book’s five chapters revolves around Pizza and Taco, who are such “BEST-BESTIES!!!” that they finish each other’s sentences. One day, the friends—who are literally a slice of cheese pizza and a beef taco—come to a stalemate over who is the best. They ultimately put it to a vote, but Pizza—aka “Cheaty McCheato”—deliberately misreads the ballot. They bring in another set of BFFs, Hot Dog and Hamburger, to settle things once and for all. But what does being “the best” mean anyway? Does it have anything to do with fist bumps or butt bumps? If so, Pizza and Taco are solid. Though appropriately repetitive, the plot packs a contagiously zany sense of humor that pairs well with series like Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton, and Mitch Weiss’ Noodleheads and Ben Clanton’s Narwhal and Jelly. Shaskan’s distinctive character design combines cartoon illustration with photography, augmenting the humor. Recycled catchphrases like “AWESOME!” and “YAAAS” keep the lightness going—although the pair’s constant dismissal of Hamburger is a little disconcerting. The sparse backgrounds—most often a blue polka-dot sky set above simple shapes—help make the white speech bubbles readable. The well-paced, easy-to-follow structure keeps the panel count at six or fewer per page.
YAAAS! This lunch bunch serves pure silliness. (Graphic early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-12330-0
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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