developed by Storyola ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 26, 2014
Not much honey in this comb.
A create-a-story app that attempts to combine literature, math and gaming.
The app opens with an introduction to the Storybook Mom, an animated white woman who lives on the cover of a nondescript book. As she narrates, her lips move as though talking, but she looks more like Samantha of Bewitched wiggling her nose or someone who has a facial tic. Nonetheless, the “story” begins with a lemon bobbing in the sky. Touch it and a group of children says, “Lemon.” Tap it a second, third and fourth time, and readers hear “Bumblebee?” Readers must then drag stripes, antennae and an eye to the lemon, which causes it to look like a bumblebee and fly away. On the next screen, five “Lemblebees” are counted off and hover until they’re drawn one by one to a rose—which, inexplicably, causes them to fall to the ground. Tapping the fallen fruit-insects temporarily resurrects them, but they are immobilized again almost immediately. Finally, readers are told to type in the name of someone who can help, and after a ceremonious formality, that person supposedly releases the remaining Lemblebees to their next adventure. Lather, rinse, repeat. Readers can save stories to continue them, but continuing means mostly doing the same things over and over again.
Not much honey in this comb. (iPad storybook app. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Storyola
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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Awards & Accolades
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New York Times Bestseller
IndieBound Bestseller
by Adam Rubin & illustrated by Daniel Salmieri ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2012
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
Awards & Accolades
Likes
11
New York Times Bestseller
IndieBound Bestseller
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Sandra Equihua ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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