For his children’s debut, Pulitzer Prize–winner Breen sends a small frog with a sticky tongue and notably bad aim on an impromptu tour of New Orleans and environs. Hooking a passing dragonfly instead of a tasty mosquito, Stick gets literally carried away—hurtling out of the bayou, through a small town, past Antoine’s and other French Quarter landmarks, then out into the countryside, with sudden brief stops on a horse’s nose, a biker’s face and elsewhere. At last, with a fine disregard for the natural predator/prey relationship, Breen sends the weary amphibian winging home aboard a friendly heron. Though not so rich in plot or pratfalls as the likes of David Wiesner’s Tuesday (1991) or Jennifer Armstrong’s Once Upon A Banana (2006), illustrated by David Small, this comic outing is drawn with confident simplicity, and presented in a sequence of large, wordless, or nearly wordless, panels. A promising beginning. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8037-3124-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2007
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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Rufus Leroy Williams III is determined to learn how to read, but can he convince Principal Lipid to allow a pig in school?
Rufus makes the best of his illiteracy by imagining his own stories to go with the pictures in his favorite book, but still he longs to read. The tiny pig knows just how to solve his problem, though: With a backpack, he can go to school. But Principal Lipid seems to think it takes more than a backpack to attend school—if you are a pig, that is, since pigs are sure to wreak all sorts of havoc in school: track mud, start food fights, etc. Rufus decides a lunchbox is just the ticket, but the principal feels differently. Maybe a blanket for naptime? Or promises not to engage in specific behaviors? Nope. But the real necessary items were with Rufus all along—a book and the desire to learn to read it. Gorbachev’s ink-and-watercolor illustrations emphasize Rufus’ small size, making both his desire and the principal’s rejection seem that much larger. Parents and teachers beware: The humorous pages of imagined, naughty behavior may be more likely to catch children’ eyes than Rufus’ earnestly good behavior.
But it is the parting sentence that will hit home with everyone: “But Rufus loved storytime most of all… / …because it gave him room to dream.” (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4549-0416-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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BOOK REVIEW
Is it a book about aspirations or the backstory for the board game?
Chickapig is defined as “an animal hybrid that is half-chicken and half-pig” and is depicted in yellow, two-legged chick shape with pink pig snout and ears. Young Joe Chickapig lives on a farm that was his grandfather’s dream, but it’s getting Joe down. He dreams of adventure but needs the “courage to follow his heart. / But how could he do it? How could he start?” In a bedtime story, Joe’s mother shares the influential characters that helped Joe’s sailor grandfather “follow his heart against the tide.” It seems that “Grandpa had heard a story told / Of a great big bear who broke the mold. / The bear was tired of striking fear”—so he became a forest doctor and a friend to all. And the bear’s inspiration? “A mouse who went to space.” The mouse, in turn, found hope in a “fierce young dragon” who joined a rock band. And coming full circle, the dragon found courage from a Chickapig warrior who “tired of shields and swords to wield” and established a farm. Chickapig game fans will appreciate this fanciful rhyming tale illustrated in attention-grabbing colors, but readers coming to it cold will note a distinct absence of plot. Mouse and dragon present female; all others are male.
Take strength from the dreamers before you and follow your dreams. Or maybe just roll the dice. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7944-4452-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Printers Row
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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