Not quite as easy a read as similarly formatted Boris on the Move, by Andrew Joyner (2013), this will nonetheless appeal to...
Shaped like an early chapter book rather than an easy reader, this effort, one of a new series called Branches, introduces super-duper Missy and her encounter with school picture day.
Missy, a very exuberant and headstrong young grade schooler, spends her whole week imagining all of the wild outfits she could wear to have her picture taken. The full-color, cartoony illustrations, some humorously depicting her numerous clothing changes and wild design concepts, fill most of the white space on each page and effectively portray Missy’s personality, as well as that of a bookish classmate, Oscar. She adores ruffles, striped tights and lots of over-the-top accessories, a fascination that many young female readers will recognize and enjoy. Missy’s mother forces her to wear a plain blouse and skirt with suspenders for her picture, though, and she fusses and fumes through her school day. Eventually, she and Oscar, who loves suspenders but is wearing a plaid vest and bow tie, hatch a scheme that resolves her woes. Most pages feature only a sentence or two but include some challenging sight words, considering how brief the text is: “gracious,” “chocolate” and “information” among them.
Not quite as easy a read as similarly formatted Boris on the Move, by Andrew Joyner (2013), this will nonetheless appeal to emergent female readers wishing to look especially accomplished to their peers—and who doesn’t enjoy that feeling? (Fiction. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-43851-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Branches/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be...
In his third beginning reader about Otto the robot, Milgrim (See Otto, 2002, etc.) introduces another new friend for Otto, a little mouse named Pip.
The simple plot involves a large balloon that Otto kindly shares with Pip after the mouse has a rather funny pointing attack. (Pip seems to be in that I-point-and-I-want-it phase common with one-year-olds.) The big purple balloon is large enough to carry Pip up and away over the clouds, until Pip runs into Zee the bee. (“Oops, there goes Pip.”) Otto flies a plane up to rescue Pip (“Hurry, Otto, Hurry”), but they crash (and splash) in front of some hippos with another big balloon, and the story ends as it begins, with a droll “See Pip point.” Milgrim again succeeds in the difficult challenge of creating a real, funny story with just a few simple words. His illustrations utilize lots of motion and basic geometric shapes with heavy black outlines, all against pastel backgrounds with text set in an extra-large typeface.
Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be welcome additions to the limited selection of funny stories for children just beginning to read. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-85116-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
Very young gardeners will need more information, but for certain picky eaters, the suggested strategy just might work.
A young spinach hater becomes a spinach lover after she has to grow her own in a class garden.
Unable to trade away the seed packet she gets from her teacher for tomatoes, cukes or anything else more palatable, Sylvia reluctantly plants and nurtures a pot of the despised veggie then transplants it outside in early spring. By the end of school, only the plot’s lettuce, radishes and spinach are actually ready to eat (talk about a badly designed class project!)—and Sylvia, once she nerves herself to take a nibble, discovers that the stuff is “not bad.” She brings home an armful and enjoys it from then on in every dish: “And that was the summer Sylvia Spivens said yes to spinach.” Raff uses unlined brushwork to give her simple cartoon illustrations a pleasantly freehand, airy look, and though Pryor skips over the (literally, for spinach) gritty details in both the story and an afterword, she does cover gardening basics in a simple and encouraging way.
Very young gardeners will need more information, but for certain picky eaters, the suggested strategy just might work. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9836615-1-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Readers to Eaters
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2012
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