While Gomi is often visually sophisticated, the results here are uneven, with images that will both delight and baffle.
Like Hervé Tullet’s The Game of Finger Worms (2011), Gomi’s newest encourages readers to insert a finger through a die-cut hole to animate the characters on the page.
Readers’ digits become a cat’s tail, a rattlesnake’s rattle, a chameleon’s tongue and more in the Japanese illustrator’s recognizably whimsical watercolor cartoons, done in colors both bright and muted. Some of the finger animations work well, like the sea gull wing and the elephant trunk, but others look odd or incomplete, such as the penguin beak and the deer antlers. The text is a simple one-sentence explanation of the animal’s actions: “The crocodile flashes his fang.” The die-cut holes appear on both the left and right sides of the double-page spread, but only one hole is needed to create the animation effect, making the page layout look unfinished. Companion Hide and Seek is another example of Gomi’s visual playfulness. An ever-increasing number of animals and people hide an object or two on their person. On the first double-page spread, two roosters are shown, as the text, with the image of a glove hovering above, reads: “Which rooster hides a glove?” One of the birds has had its comb replaced by the glove. The guessing game continues with three crocodiles, one of which has a toothbrush for teeth, and four raccoons, one of which has a sock instead of a tail. Many of these visual puzzles are delightful, such as birthday candles in place of giraffe horns. Others may be difficult for board-book readers to pick up on, such as a triangular flag in place of a shark’s fin. The final spread shows a group of kids, one of which sports a fork and spoon as hair braids.
While Gomi is often visually sophisticated, the results here are uneven, with images that will both delight and baffle. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 23, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4521-0836-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
A familiar story skillfully reimagined for today’s gadget-savvy youth.
Hannah Hadley is a young special agent who must thwart a clear and present danger to the United States in Hoover’s “smart is cool” young adult novel.
Hannah Hadley might seem like most 13-year-old girls. She enjoys painting, playing with her MP3 player and spending time with friends. But that’s where the similarities end. Hadley doubles as Agent 10-1, among the youngest spies drafted into the CIA’s Div Y department. She’s joined in her missions by her 10-pound Shih Tzu, Kiwi (with whom she communicates telepathically), and her best friend Tommie Claire, a blind girl with heightened senses. When duty calls, the group sneaks to a hidden command center located under the floor of Hadley’s art studio. Her current mission, aptly named “Operation Farmer Jones,” takes her to a secluded farmhouse in Canada. There, al-Qaida terrorists have gathered the necessary ingredients for a particularly devastating nuclear warhead that they intend to fire into America. The villains are joined by the Mad Madam of Mayhem, a physicist for hire whom the terrorists force to complete the weapon of mass destruction. With Charlie Higson’s Young James Bond series and the ongoing 39 Clues novellas, covert missions and secret plans are the plots of choice in much of today’s fiction for young readers, and references to the famed 007 stories abound in Hoover’s tale. But while the plot feels familiar, Hoover’s use of modern slang—albeit strained at times—and gadgets such as the iTouch appeal to today’s youth. Placing girls in adult situations has been a mainstay since Mildred Wirt Benson first introduced readers to Nancy Drew in The Secret of the Old Clock, but Hannah Hadley is like Nancy Drew on steroids. Both are athletic, score well in their studies and have a measure of popularity. Hadley, however, displays a genius-level intellect and near superhuman abilities in her efforts to roust the terrorists—handy skills for a young teen spy who just so happens to get the best grades in school.
A familiar story skillfully reimagined for today’s gadget-savvy youth.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-0615419688
Page Count: 239
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Pretentious.
These babies are too posh for their own good.
In this smug review of daily life in the Big Apple, including its tourist attractions, the developmental mark is missed entirely. A little girl holds her mother's hand as they stroll through the art museum: “We say MoMA when we really mean Mama.” Less obscurely, a four-panel spread depicts a babe in stroller through changing seasons; the snow piles high and a scarf covers the child's face during the blustery winter. The food-cart experience is represented by a bagel, pizza and pretzel, glossed with a gush: “And we have fun learning our shapes!” In a nod to the city's diversity, youngsters greet each other in a host of languages. Busy pops of bold colors emphasize the hustle and bustle. A darkened cityscape seems to promise rest, but one cry ("Waaaa!") lights up the sky. “New York is the city that never sleeps, but New York babies do…sometimes.” Two concluding pages of suggested parent-child activities overwhelm in their attempt to educate.
Pretentious. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9838121-4-2
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Duo Press
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
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