The effects of artistic license become clear in this picture book from Simmons, who shows what happens to two witches who attend the same school, and are taught the same lessons, but find widely different uses for their craft. Alice's bucolic perch on a mountain has a sign that says ``Welcome!'' while Greta's sign warns, ``Keep Away!'' Butterflies and bluebirds attend one child-witch, buzzards and bats the other. When school's out, the stage is set: Alice conjures a wave for a family whose boat is stranded on a sandbar, while Greta conjures a similar wave to wash away a child's sandcastle. More examples of their opposing worldviews follow, but most readers will get the point, and it may be the simple predictability of the plot they will enjoy most. By the time Greta gets her comeuppance—she was not in school the day the most important of witchy lessons was taught, a take on the old what-goes-around- comes-around chestnut—readers will be anticipating the punishment, but not Alice's reward. As a result of all her good deeds, her view from the hill is getting ``better and better,'' with levitating children bearing thank-you notes, cookies, and flowers. Moore has a style like Lynn Munsinger's, with charmingly detailed watercolors that endlessly tinker with the symmetry of the tale—e.g., the bats have come to Alice's side in the last scene. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-88106-974-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not up to the standard Carter set in her previous award-winning outings (Under a Prairie Sky, 2004, etc.). (Picture book....
A story that imagines Night and Day as siblings at play becomes mired in a muddled attempt to do too many things at once.
Night is a prince who chases his older sister, Day, across the sky in a game of hide-and-seek. In a spaceship loaded with comets and stars, he and his teddy bear paint the sky with constellations. Brightly colored, cartoon-like artwork sets the stage for fun, with the sleepy, befuddled prince forgetting, as he does each night, that he's supposed to be hunting for his sister. Astronomical elements are thrown into the text and illustrations almost as an instructional afterthought, too often missing the mark. Picture books in rhyme ought to be a pleasure to read aloud, but here the forced meter makes it hard to establish a natural cadence. Where the rhyme does scan properly, it results in heavy, plodding verse that often weakens the story: "The spaceship takes off with a plug-your-ears boom / and blasts into space with a hold-on-tight zoom. / Teddy's distracted. He just wants his snack. / Milk and fresh cookies smell good in the back."
Not up to the standard Carter set in her previous award-winning outings (Under a Prairie Sky, 2004, etc.). (Picture book. 4-7) .)(Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-55469-402-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
The glittery cover and promise of mermaids may attract readers initially, but there is little here to lure them for repeated...
This second Tiptoe Guide (The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies, 2010) has readers scouring the seashore for mermaids and imagining what their lives must be like.
Not a story, but not a guidebook in the traditional sense either, this is more of a fits-and-starts foray into imagination that may leave many of its readers behind. Listen to a conch shell’s secrets, search a tidal pool for evidence of baby mermaids, imagine shells as mermaid jewelry, sand dollars as money and ocean plants as food, with crabs scrounging the leftovers. But the author goes beyond readers’ reach, as the mermaids play with dolphins, swim amid the coral and carry out their daily activities (primping, napping, shopping) on the ocean floor. While Paquette’s first capitalized on the popularity of fairy houses and the easy accessibility of most to the great outdoors, this latest narrows its readership by focusing on the ocean. It further disappoints this limited audience by highlighting beachcombing finds that are relatively rare, if not geographically impossible: perfect sand dollars and conch shells, ocean plants, tidal pools—not to mention the warm-enough-for-a-bathing-suit but nonetheless deserted, beach. Letourneau layers her fanciful watercolor mermaids atop beautiful photographs, which gives a jarring feel to the artwork. Further, when the text asks readers, “Can you see any mermaids anywhere?” she makes no effort at hiding them.
The glittery cover and promise of mermaids may attract readers initially, but there is little here to lure them for repeated readings. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-933718-59-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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