A young girl’s struggle with the creative process is the focus of this zany tale. A class assignment to create a work of fiction is the impetus for the budding writer’s endeavors. Her initial efforts produce a tale about a duck with shoes. Unfortunately, the child’s teacher steadfastly rejects any stories involving literary flights of fancy and the girl resignedly consigns the elegantly shod duck to the scrap-paper heap. However, the spunky fowl takes matters into his own wings and resolutely continues on with his journey. Soon the young artist has a veritable character mutiny on her hands as a one-winged girl joins the duck and refuses to be written out of the story. Linch’s tale is wryly written with hilarious scenes depicting the girl earnestly explaining to her free-spirited creations that she must write a more practical story. One discordant note in the work is the oppressiveness of the teacher, who relentlessly attempts to squash the girl’s creative spirit and functions more as a one-dimensional caricature of an unimaginative adult. However, the child ingeniously creates an “acceptable” tale about a trip to the zoo while slyly incorporating her unique characters into the background pictures. Full-page illustrations, riotously colored, artfully convey the girl’s—and her characters’—uncompromising individuality. A humorous and inspiring exploration of the art of writing that encourages readers to give their imaginations free reign. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-439-20670-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
No laugh track required: This story should generate genuine giggles.
Saturday Night Live mainstay Thompson makes his picture-book debut with the tale of a young rabbit who discovers that being the class clown is harder than it looks.
To make a splash on his first day of school, Bunny decides to adopt a new persona: Funny Bunny. He performs his act for his classmates, who are a tough audience…or is the material the problem? (Sample joke: “What town does milk come from? Milk-waukee!”) Actually, Bunny wins over one classmate: Hedgehog thinks Bunny has comedy chops and just needs practice. This gives Bunny an idea: Why don’t they work together? (Thompson’s co-author knows something about collaborating on jokes: Tucker has been an SNL writer for two decades.) Bunny and Hedgehog’s writing sessions are fruitful, and when Bunny tries out his new material on his classmates, he brings down the house. Clearly, teamwork and persistence pay off in this silly yet heartening tale, although laughs aren’t Bunny’s only reward. In Hedgehog he has found a friend (and, from the looks of things, perhaps a manager). The book’s jokes, including two pages’ worth that conclude the story, will be manna for punsters, who presumably aren’t supposed to notice that there’s no qualitative difference between the jokes that amused Bunny’s class and the ones that bombed. Neal’s appealing digital art focuses heavily on reaction shots from an all-animal cast living in a world of amusement park colors.
No laugh track required: This story should generate genuine giggles. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781250364814
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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