In a bit of role reversal, a young dragon happens upon a small “Benjamin” in the woods and brings him home to show the parents. Though the new “pet” is strangely averse to the offered dinner of stinky fish and worms, and at school the next day turns out to have neither scales nor tail, he does teach the whole dragon class a wonderful new game called “soccer.” Seeing that he’s lonely, though, the narrator at last flies him back to the land of the Benjamins—and returns bemused at how excited all the other Benjamins became at the appearance of a dragon. In cartoon illustrations, Millward places the human lad amidst big, lumpish, un-scary-looking dragons with tiny wings, then closes with a scene showing how exciting soccer practice can be when the players breathe fire. A big die-cut hole through the front cover kicks this import’s appeal up even further. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-59990-190-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Layton’s zany alien family comes to Earth in search of humans, but with only guidebook descriptions of what people look like, it’s easy to make mistakes—especially when their flying saucer lands at the zoo! “They don’t have tails and they mostly stand on two feet,” reads the father, effectively ruling out kangaroos and tigers as potential people. The smallest alien is anxious to snap a picture of penguins, but it turns out they aren’t human—people don’t have wings. After searching the “entire planet” (that is, within the confines of the zoo walls), the aliens finally do find a creature to match their guidebook’s description perfectly, and to make Darwin smile. The goofy illustrations deploy a childlike sense of fun; the aliens are pleasant creatures with round patchwork bodies and eyes on stalks, and the gregarious zoo animals will ring true for the animal cracker set. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8037-2381-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In a third book that links the imagination of a small child with the toy vehicles in his possession, S°s (Trucks, Trucks, Trucks, p. 538, etc.) puts realistic scenes of a child on the lefthand pages, and the scenes the child envisions on right. On one page, a boy sits on a sofa with a couple of boxes and a couple of poles and a small blanket. A blue scatter rug is on the floor. Opposite that scene is the same boy, but now the sofa is in a state of transformation. Gradually, through the pages, it is first an amorphous conveyance, then an inflatable, a canoe, a sailboat, a junk, until it becomes a great liner. The little rug, of course, becomes the sea. The pages march correspondingly along, with the boy arranging the boxes and poles into his vessel of choice. A fold-out page reveals a terrific sea monster, but a mother appears, too, with her vacuum cleaner, bringing boy and readers back to shore. S°s is at his simple best, using broad lines to depict reality, and then the spidery, dot-dash penwork to shape his fantasy world; he and children speak the same language to weave their dreams. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-16644-X
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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