Snore.
A mouse in his house—which is also Sleeping Beauty’s castle—attempts to get a full night’s sleep before his wedding but is stymied by the great wracking snores of the princess herself.
Mouse eagerly lets a prince named Max in, but the prince does not fancy kissing a snoring Beauty. Together, man and mouse hold her nose, pour water on her and tickle her feet to no avail. In desperation, Mouse puckers up and kisses her himself, and she wakes in time to get a kiss from Max. All this is illustrated in splashy watercolors that integrate a wide array of onomatopoeia to represent snoring (“SNOOOOGA-SNOOOOOM,” “KA-RENCHHHHH”); human and mouse physiognomies both sport very long noses. Mouse’s (and Max’s) eventual success is short-lived: Mouse discovers after their double wedding that he has not escaped the sounds of snoring after all. What is clearly intended to be silly is, alas, not light enough to make the grade. Max is not interested in anything but Beauty’s crown and castle, Mouse is revolted by kissing a human, and the treatment of Beauty while she is sleeping borders on the cruel if not unusual. It’s all presented in rhyme (ABCCB) in a typeface that is pretty but not as easily read as it might be.
Snore. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-087403-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
Young readers will be “antsy” to join the hero on her satisfying escapade.
An ant explores her world.
Addie Ant’s ready for adventure. Despite some trepidation about leaving the Tomato Bed, where she lives with her aunt, she plucks up her courage and ventures forth across the garden to the far side of the shed. On her journey, she meets her pal Lewis Ladybug, who greets her warmly, points the way, and offers sage advice. When Addie arrives at her destination, she’s welcomed by lovely Beatrix Butterfly and enjoys an “ant-tastic” helping of watermelon. Beatrix also provides Addie with take-home treats and a map for the “Cricket Express,” which will take her straight home. Arriving at the terminal, Addie’s delighted to meet another friend, Cleo Cricket, whose carriage service returns Addie home in “two hops.” After eating a warm tomato soup dinner, Addie falls asleep and dreams of future exploits. Adorable though not terribly original, this story brims with sensuous pleasures, both textual and visual. Kids who declare that they dislike fruits or veggies may find their mouths watering at the mentions and sights of luscious tomatoes, peas, beans, watermelons, berries, and other foodstuffs; insect-averse readers may likewise think differently after encountering these convivial, wide-eyed characters. And those flowers and herbs everywhere! The highlights are the colors that burst from the pages. Addie’s an endearing, empowering character who reassures children they’ll be able to take those first independent steps successfully.
Young readers will be “antsy” to join the hero on her satisfying escapade. (author’s note about ants) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781797228914
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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