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MOROTOBI'S ADVENTURE

Name: MOROTOBI'S ADVENTURE
Author: Tinrobot

developed by Tinrobot ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 20, 2011

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A dream come true for any reader amused by a cartoon character who turns purple and piddles at a touch.

At the behest of an enchanted frog, young trickster Moro leaps into a world of monsters in search of a magical ring and lantern. Transformed into a monster, he dubs himself Tobi (“That name makes me want to barf!” jeers a rival creature), retrieves the tokens—and then discovers that the frog is really an evil witch. The plot is cobbled together from set pieces and arbitrary shifts, and the English text (switchable to Korean) is burdened by misspellings and lines like, “Moro became very interested in this very interesting toad.” So diverse and is the array of special features and effects, however, that the actual story is practically incidental. Touch- or tilt-activated sound effects, animations and shape changes on nearly all of the 37 screens range from the aforementioned tinkle to a musical staircase, sprays of golden glitter, an inventive reflection-in-water scene and a wonderfully scary witch lunging at viewers. Options include an audio narration and a musical track, both equally effervescent, and a menu icon opens either a numbered index of thumbnails or a PowerPoint-like “Memo” feature that allows readers to make notes on slides of each page. With the talking lantern’s help, Moro-Tobi overcomes the witch in the end, and then sets off for further adventures. Children can tackle the ensuing study questions while they wait. Not the most coherent series opener, but certainly fully featured. (iPad storybook app. 7-9)

Pub Date: July 20, 2011

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Tinrobot

Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012

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BOOKMARKS ARE PEOPLE TOO!

From the Here's Hank series , Vol. 1

by Henry Winkler ; Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Scott Garrett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2014

An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.

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Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.

Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.

An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)

Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap

Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CASE OF THE MISSING TADPOLE
by Henry Winkler ; illustrated by Dan Santat & by Lin Oliver

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CASE OF THE STRANGE SPLASH
by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Dan Santat

- BOOK REVIEW
HOLLYWOOD VS. THE GALAXY
by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Ethan Nicolle

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DORY STORY

by Jerry Pallotta ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2000

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Who is next in the ocean food chain? Pallotta has a surprising answer in this picture book glimpse of one curious boy. Danny, fascinated by plankton, takes his dory and rows out into the ocean, where he sees shrimp eating those plankton, fish sand eels eating shrimp, mackerel eating fish sand eels, bluefish chasing mackerel, tuna after bluefish, and killer whales after tuna. When an enormous humpbacked whale arrives on the scene, Danny’s dory tips over and he has to swim for a large rock or become—he worries’someone’s lunch. Surreal acrylic illustrations in vivid blues and red extend the story of a small boy, a small boat, and a vast ocean, in which the laws of the food chain are paramount. That the boy has been bathtub-bound during this entire imaginative foray doesn’t diminish the suspense, and the facts Pallotta presents are solidly researched. A charming fish tale about the one—the boy—that got away. (Picture book. 4-8)