A multilayered coming-of-age story filled with exquisitely executed art.
A little boy finds his inner tiger in this lyrical picture-book debut by Choi, an award-winning author for adults.
Narrated in a thoughtful, meandering voice that mimics a long scenic drive into the mountains, a boy, his older brother, and their parents travel to a camping site at Mountain Pond, which is “like a mirror in the trees.” Throughout the trip the boy vocalizes his apprehensions about growing up and becoming a first-grader, saying he “liked kindergarten” and misses “things my mom used to do for me.” Suddenly everyone is struck silent when a tiger approaches from the temperate forest, asking for an extra tent to sleep in. The boy and the tiger quickly connect. Soon the tiger becomes the personification of the growing inner courage of the boy, participating in all the activities. The boy accomplishes new milestones: catching his first fish, steering the canoe well, and striking out on his own. Rocco provides illustrations with a cool color scheme and dramatic details. Elongated sentences demand that readers linger on each page drinking in every detail of the tiger’s striking portraits. There is a slight disconnect in tone between the whimsy of the text and the realism of the illustrations, but it is a small price to pay. The boys appear Asian or biracial Asian/white.
A multilayered coming-of-age story filled with exquisitely executed art. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 21, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-399-17329-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity.
Buzz and his buzzy buddy open a spinoff series of nonfiction early readers with an aquarium visit.
Buzz: “Like other fish, sharks breathe through gills.” Fly Guy: “GILLZZ.” Thus do the two pop-eyed cartoon tour guides squire readers past a plethora of cramped but carefully labeled color photos depicting dozens of kinds of sharks in watery settings, along with close-ups of skin, teeth and other anatomical features. In the bite-sized blocks of narrative text, challenging vocabulary words like “carnivores” and “luminescence” come with pronunciation guides and lucid in-context definitions. Despite all the flashes of dentifrice and references to prey and smelling blood in the water, there is no actual gore or chowing down on display. Sharks are “so cool!” proclaims Buzz at last, striding out of the gift shop. “I can’t wait for our next field trip!” (That will be Fly Guy Presents: Space, scheduled for September 2013.)
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity. (Informational easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-50771-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
