This ode to imagination filled with potty humor should have readers laughing—or utterly grossed out.
A boy’s inventive celebration of plungers drives his parents to distraction in this debut picture book.
The story’s narrator, a pale boy with red hair, thinks plungers are just about the best thing ever created. His mother explains that they “squish things down and schluck them up,” but the narrator can think of so many more things they could be used for. In several wordless spreads, Punkinhead uses watercolor paints and ink drawings to depict the narrator’s adventures in plunging: as a superhero atop a slide, a deep-pool diver, a high jumper and a ceiling climber, a jouster and a juggler, a singer with a microphone, and (distressingly for those who know where plungers have usually been) a trickster with a mask. In a delightful turn on a theme, the narrator complains that grown-ups just aren’t very good at sharing. After he manages to stick the plunger to the television (after shooting it with a bow), his father takes it away for the last time. But not to worry—the boy soon finds a new tool to be fascinated with: a toilet brush. The bathroom humor is sure to appeal to young independent readers, who will find the vocabulary largely accessible (and might pick up a few new words, like “huzzah”). Punkinhead’s illustrations are vibrant and full of action. None of the characters have pupils in their solid white eyes, which takes some getting used to, but the narrator’s deviousness and the mother’s displeasure are palpable.
This ode to imagination filled with potty humor should have readers laughing—or utterly grossed out.Pub Date: March 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5255-1427-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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