An idiosyncratic tale that creates a gastronomical playground from mere words. Gabby (as his name reveals) is a boy who speaks too much. Exasperated by his endless questions and run-on sentences (``TheballoonisdeflatedbecausetomorrowisWednesday''), Gabby's parents tell him they won't speak to him if he continues to ``swallow his words.'' The analogy turns on a light for Gabby, and the poetry begins. He sees words as edibles: gargoyle is a meaty main dish, while cabinet is a sweet dessert. A doctor puts Gabby on a diet to cure him of a case of indigestion; Gabby rebels and goes on the equivalent of a hunger strike—silence. Without speech, his senses take over, and he learns to communicate to plants and animals, and to use languages like ``furniture'' to speak to tables and chairs. Eventually, Gabby is jolted by the arrival of Lola, who only speaks human. Preschoolers will find the concept less disconcerting than adults, and the only detraction from this synesthetic delight is the stereotyping of Chinese as a language impossible to understand. The illustrations are perfectly composed scrawls, poster-paint bold, and big. (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: May 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-8109-1245-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1997
A Cinderella parody features the off-the-wall, whang-dang Texas hyperbole of Ketteman (The Year of No More Corn, 1993, etc.) and the insouciance of Warhola, who proves himself only too capable of creating a fairy godcow; that she's so appealingly whimsical makes it easy to accept the classic tale's inversions. The protagonist is Bubba, appropriately downtrodden and overworked by his wicked stepdaddy and loathsome brothers Dwayne and Milton, who spend their days bossing him around. The other half of the happy couple is Miz Lurleen, who owns ``the biggest spread west of the Brazos.'' She craves male companionship to help her work the place, ``and it wouldn't hurt if he was cute as a cow's ear, either.'' There are no surprises in this version except in the hilarious way the premise plays itself out and in Warhola's delightful visual surprises. When Lurleen tracks the bootless Bubba down, ``Dwayne and Milton and their wicked daddy threw chicken fits.'' Bubba and babe, hair as big as a Texas sun, ride off to a life of happy ranching, and readers will be proud to have been along for the courtship. (Picture book/folklore. 6-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-590-25506-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A disappointing exploration of career options from an entertainer who should know better. Maybe it has something to do with the decision to take the "Weird" out of his authorial name, but musical satirist Yankovic doesn't deliver the kind of precise zaniness adults of a certain generation will expect. Little Billy may be small in stature, but he doesn't limit his thinking when it comes to what he'll be when he grows up. As soon as Mrs. Krupp gives him the floor at show-and-tell, he grabs it and doesn't let go, reeling out a dizzying series of potential careers. Beginning with 12 rhyming couplets on what kind of a chef he might be, he follows up with snail trainer, machinist, giraffe milker, artist and on and on. At its best, the verse approaches Seussian: "maybe I'll be the lathe operator / Who makes the hydraulic torque wrench calibrator / Which fine-tunes the wrench that's specifically made / To retighten the nuts in the lateral blade." But the pacing never allows readers to stop and chuckle at the foolishness, and it doesn't leave enough room for Hargis' light, humorous cartoons to expand and ramp up the goof factor. In children's books, as in satire, less is more—here's hoping Weird Al's next effort is both tighter and funnier. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-192691-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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