by Sylvain Alzial ; illustrated by Hélène Rajcak ; translated by Vineet Lal & Sarah Ardizzone ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 29, 2019
This one-joke morality tale includes some engaging details but may nonetheless struggle to find an appreciative audience.
A learned scholar travels to the jungle to seek out his most recent subject of study.
An old white man who has devoted his life to learning is frustrated when he realizes that there is a gap in his knowledge. After months of intensive study, he sets out to get a glimpse of his subject—the Bengal tiger—in its native habitat. Guided by an Indian local, “a rather simple young man,” the scholar pontificates as the two travel through the jungle together, overwhelming the young man (and possibly readers as well). The guide attempts several times to interject but is steamrollered by the scholar’s verbosity. Face to face with the animal at last, the old man is distraught to discover that none of his knowledge has prepared him for the reality of a hostile predator. Alzial’s text, translated from the French, is long and dense, peppered with complex scientific vocabulary. Rajcak’s fine-lined, black-and-white drawings, splashed with oranges, browns, and greens, are similarly sophisticated. Intentionally old-fashioned in appearance, they include complicated diagrams and anatomical details alternating with scenes depicting the action. Both words and pictures have a slyly ironic tone, clearly poking fun at the scholar’s vanity. Unfortunately, the knowing contrast between the learned man’s ignorance and the local hunter’s knowledge is undercut somewhat when the latter acts “instinctively” to avoid the tiger.
This one-joke morality tale includes some engaging details but may nonetheless struggle to find an appreciative audience. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5529-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
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by Craig Smith ; illustrated by Katz Cowley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2010
Hee haw.
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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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by Kwame Alexander & illustrated by Tim Bowers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2011
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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