Neither realism nor fantasy, this dismal series opener is marred by clichéd characters and a plot evidently unaware of its...
Returning home from a family camping trip, Olive, 8, discovers a stowaway: Forest, the wild boy she met living in the woods. Now she’s got just 24 hours to civilize him sufficiently to satisfy Gam Gam, her grandmother.
Forest, about Olive’s age, wears ragged, muddy clothes. He’s learned his Tarzan-like human speech from campers but also speaks to squirrels, birds, and the family dog, Bailey. Olive’s dad is willing to take Forest in, but her older brother, Ryan, 10, objects, especially after Forest sprays him with the garden hose, breaks the TV trying to rescue the opossums onscreen, and destroys the family’s dinner. If he’s to stay, Forest must pass muster with Gam Gam, a stickler for etiquette, when she arrives tomorrow for her birthday dinner (why her approval’s required is unclear). Seeking to subvert Olive’s plans, Ryan encourages Forest to further acts of mayhem and dresses him in a towel cape but no shirt for the dinner. Only ragged clothes and messy hair distinguish Forest from Olive and her white family, their features appearing identical, even clonelike in the cartoonish art. Olive’s absent mom and Forest’s origins go unexplored, which allows the wild-child premise to be played strictly for laughs but leaves an unsavory residue of subtext, suggesting poverty, homelessness, and family disruption. Perhaps more will be explained in Book 2.
Neither realism nor fantasy, this dismal series opener is marred by clichéd characters and a plot evidently unaware of its darker implications. (Fiction. 5-7)Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-10383-3
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.
With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?
Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7033-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Accessible, reassuring and hopeful.
This endearing picture book about a timid boy who longs to belong has an agenda but delivers its message with great sensitivity.
Brian wants to join in but is overlooked, even ostracized, by his classmates. Readers first see him alone on the front endpapers, drawing in chalk on the ground. The school scenarios are uncomfortably familiar: High-maintenance children get the teacher’s attention; team captains choose kickball players by popularity and athletic ability; chatter about birthday parties indicates they are not inclusive events. Tender illustrations rendered in glowing hues capture Brian’s isolation deftly; compared to the others and his surroundings, he appears in black and white. What saves Brian is his creativity. As he draws, Brian imagines amazing stories, including a poignant one about a superhero with the power to make friends. When a new boy takes some ribbing, it is Brian who leaves an illustrated note to make him feel better. The boy does not forget this gesture. It only takes one person noticing Brian for the others to see his talents have value; that he has something to contribute. Brian’s colors pop. In the closing endpapers, Brian’s classmates are spread around him on the ground, “wearing” his chalk-drawn wings and capes. Use this to start a discussion: The author includes suggested questions and recommended reading lists for adults and children.
Accessible, reassuring and hopeful. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-582-46450-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013
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