Elya has created yet another winner in this natural followup to Oh No, Gotta Go! (2003). this time, the young heroine is on a picnic at the park with her parents. Having learned from her previous experience, she hasn’t had anything to drink and she used the bathroom before leaving home. So when Papá mentions it at the park, she knows she doesn’t have to go. But as she pedals home she soon realizes, “There’s more than one reason to sit on the pot.” “ ‘The salad! The spinach! The green espinaca!’ ‘Why, that means,’ Papá said, ‘she has to go caca!’ ” Out-of-breath readers will race along with the frantic parents and breathe a sigh of relief when they make it just in time. Elya’s rhyming couplets perfectly capture both the toddler’s casual attitude and her sudden urgency for the baño. The mix of Spanish in the text is seamless, the words easily placed in context with the aid of Avril’s pastel and acrylic illustrations (a glossary is also provided). Facial expressions and body language are masterfully presented, adding to the humor of the text. Young children will especially chuckle at the road’s transformation into a steaming volcano, a quite apropos metaphor. This tale about the necessary is definitely necessary. (Picture book. 2-7)
Pub Date: June 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-399-24308-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A cheery little girl and her dad plan a shopping trip, go to the grocery store (by bike), purchase ingredients and go home to make pizza for the whole family (a biracial one, in a nice touch). An enthusiastic running commentary narrates the activities, which all go smoothly and safely, with just a bit of mess. Birkett’s bright, line-and-color illustrations focus on the child and her contributions, evoking Aliki in line and mood. The narration, which seems to include both the child and her father’s dialogue without distinction, may confuse some readers slightly, but its rapid-fire enthusiasm is appealing. This entry in the Helping Hands series is joined by Clean It! (ISBN: 978-1-84643-283-6), Fix It! (ISBN: 978-1-84643-286-6) and Grow It! (ISBN: 978-1-84643-285-9). All have a thinner-than-usual page stock that suits them, appropriately, to toddlers. (Board book. 2-4)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-84643-284-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Child's Play
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2010
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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