Sublime
A small boy's imaginative play tames his father’s fears.
Dutch author Veldkamp (Little Monkey's Big Peeing Circus, 2006) revisits the circus theme to gentler effect. Tom, desperate for his father’s attention, builds first a snail trapeze and then a squirrel circus, but his father’s fear of animals keeps him indoors. Tom needs a new show, so he heads to "Paws, Claws, Beaks & Bugs," where he announces himself as Tom the Tamer and asks if there are any animals that still need to be tamed. Hamster? Small dog? "I was thinking of a polar bear," says Tom. His knack as a tamer soon has an affable bear lending its furry self to Tom's circus, disguised in its off time as a piece of furniture. The new comfy chair by the fire is joined by flamingo drapes, an octopus chandelier and a three-hippo sofa, all wearing hiding-in-plain-sight looks of nonchalance. In on the game, and in a nod to Tenniel, is a white rabbit. The show is about to begin. But will it work? The father, finally the strong man that Tom needs, throws caution to the wind as he finds joy in an exuberant circus pyramid. Hopman’s luminous double-page spreads of soft watercolor and loose pen-and-ink lines lend humor to this multilayered story. Children will pick up subtle clues in the illustrations to the source of the father's emotional distance and the healing power of play.
Sublime . (Picture Book. 4–7)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-9359-5405-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lemniscaat USA
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages.
Never underestimate the chaotic fun that magic and an angry bouncing ball can create.
When Frog goes to the library, he borrows a book on magic. He then heads to a nearby park to read up on the skills necessary to becoming “a great magician.” Suddenly, a deflated yellow ball lands with a “Thud!” at his feet. Although he flexes his new magician muscles, Frog’s spells fall as flat as the ball. But when Frog shouts “Phooey!” and kicks the ball away, it inflates to become a big, angry ball. The ball begins to chase Frog, so he seeks shelter in the library—and Frog and ball turn the library’s usual calm into chaos. The cartoon chase crescendos. The ball bounces into the middle of a game of chess, interrupts a puppet show, and crashes into walls and bookcases. Staying just one bounce ahead, Frog runs, hides, grabs a ride on a book cart, and scatters books and papers as he slides across the library furniture before an alligator patron catches the ball and kicks it out the library door. But that’s not the end of the ball….Caple’s tidy panels and pastel-hued cartoons make a surprisingly effective setting for the slapstick, which should have young readers giggling. Simple sentences—often just subject and verb—with lots of repetition propel the action. Frog’s nonsense-word spells (“Poof Wiffle, Bop Bip!”) are both funny and excellent practice in phonetics. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages. (Graphic early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4341-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
This catch is fumbled.
Having attempted to catch the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Gingerbread Man, a group of kids set their sights on a groundhog.
After two score and counting How To Catch books, this latest addition suggests that there’s nothing left to capture. The verses are feeble (“But I’m chilled to my bones deep inside / I feel the wind across my backside”), while the illustrations are mundane. On one page, a child crouches in a drift eating “stick cheese” (apparently because it rhymes with “trees”). Another catches a football thrown by a friend but falls across a stone slab, breaking it in two. Far below, the anthropomorphic groundhog’s breakfast is disturbed; his cup, saucer, creamer, and sugar bowl are jostled. “Tomorrow is his big holiday,” the children note. “Will a shadow fall outside the den? / We need him to answer this riddle: / we know winter ends but not when.” Ultimately, though the intrepid hunters set a series of traps, they’re disappointed to catch only a rabbit. The groundhog, it turns out, is hibernating in an elaborate wrought iron bed. On the very next page, the mayor holds up the beast. How was he caught, then? We don’t know. What was his verdict on winter’s duration? We don’t know. Will the series ever stop? We can only hope. Human characters are diverse.
This catch is fumbled. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9781728293035
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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