by Susan Hood ; illustrated by Matthew Cordell ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2016
The life cycle of a frog becomes a joyful, energetic celebration of growing up.
Changes are happening underwater—look closely and watch the fun as a clutch of eggs turns into leaping, bouncing frogs.
A cluster of eggs, “round and spotted, / polka-dotted,” waits beneath the water’s surface, and readers are invited to wonder what’s inside. The mystery doesn’t last long—in just a few page turns, wiggling, squiggling creatures emerge, exploring their underwater environs. Several gatefolds add to the fun, as the changes literally unfold before readers’ eyes. Tadpoles zip and zap, splish and splash across the page, smiling and leaping out of the water. But “changes come to all who grow,” and soon the young amphibians sprout legs. In almost no time, they become “leaping, peeping, hopping, bopping” frogs! As in their charming Rooting for You (2014), Hood’s energetic rhyming text is joyfully matched with Cordell’s humorous illustrations. The wordplay is delightful, full of internal rhymes and bouncing rhythms. Interestingly, Hood never names the stages of frog development but instead encourages readers to notice the changes at each step. Cordell’s smiling frogs, with their goggling eyes, are very similar to his loving, happy mama and baby frog in Lauren Thompson’s Leap Back Home to Me (2011). Cheerful tadpoles and frogs are full of movement, clearly loving life in the pond.
The life cycle of a frog becomes a joyful, energetic celebration of growing up. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4231-5234-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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by Susan Hood with Greg Dawson
by Paul Schmid ; illustrated by Paul Schmid ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2014
Still, this young boy’s imagination is a powerful force for helping him deal with life, something that should be true for...
Oliver, of first-day-of-school alligator fame, is back, imagining adventures and still struggling to find balance between introversion and extroversion.
“When Oliver found his egg…” on the playground, mint-green backgrounds signifying Oliver’s flight into fancy slowly grow larger until they take up entire spreads; Oliver’s creature, white and dinosaurlike with orange polka dots, grows larger with them. Their adventures include sharing treats, sailing the seas and going into outer space. A classmate’s yell brings him back to reality, where readers see him sitting on top of a rock. Even considering Schmid’s scribbly style, readers can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he ponders the girl and whether or not to give up his solitary play. “But when Oliver found his rock… // Oliver imagined many adventures // with all his friends!” This last is on a double gatefold that opens to show the children enjoying the creature’s slippery curves. A final wordless spread depicts all the children sitting on rocks, expressions gleeful, wondering, waiting, hopeful. The illustrations, done in pastel pencil and digital color, again make masterful use of white space and page turns, although this tale is not nearly as funny or tongue-in-cheek as Oliver and His Alligator (2013), nor is its message as clear and immediately accessible to children.
Still, this young boy’s imagination is a powerful force for helping him deal with life, something that should be true for all children but sadly isn’t. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-7573-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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by Michelle Sinclair Colman ; illustrated by Paul Schmid
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by Adam Rex ; illustrated by Claire Keane ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2019
A funny David-versus-Goliath story with a one-word question serving as the slingshot. (Picture book. 3-5)
Doctor X-Ray, a megalomaniac with an X-ray blaster and an indestructible battle suit, crashes through the ceiling of the local mall.
Innocent patrons scatter to safety. But one curious child gazes directly at the bully and asks: “Why?” At first, Doctor X-Ray answers with all the menace and swagger of a supervillain. The curious child, armed with only a stuffed bear and clad in a bright red dress, is not satisfied with the answers and continues asking: “Why?” As his pale cheeks flush with emotion, Doctor X-Ray peels back the onion of his interior life, unearthing powerful reasons behind his pursuit of tyranny. This all sounds heavy, but the humorously monotonous questions coupled with free-wheeling illustrations by Keane set a quick pace with comical results. At 60 pages, the book has room to follow this thread back to the diabolical bully’s childhood. Most of the answers go beyond a child’s understanding—parental entertainment between the howl of the monosyllabic chorus. It is the digital artwork, which is reminiscent of Quentin Blake’s, that creates a joyful undercurrent of rebellion with bold and loose brush strokes, patches of color, and expressive faces. The illustrations harken to a previous era save for the thoroughly liberated Asian child speaking truth to power.
A funny David-versus-Goliath story with a one-word question serving as the slingshot. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-6863-0
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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