This morality tale tries too hard to be a poem.
Alfonzo the goat loves his new coat, but he loves helping others more.
“Let me tell you the tale of Alfonzo the goat, / who was terribly proud of his lovely new coat.” The text mostly continues in anapestic tetrameter, with a few awkward adjustments for those reading it aloud. Almost immediately after strutting about in his beautiful new coat, Alfonzo hears distress signals from a family of newly homeless frogs. Without hesitation, he enlists a bird to pick some stitches out of one of the sleeves, and the frogs have a new home: a boat. (Well, it had to rhyme with coat, right?) With “a warm glow in the depths of his heart,” Alfonzo continues to help animals in trouble by mutilating his new coat. By the time it is all gone and he is close to hypothermia, “Someone was shining around a bright light.” No one is literally shining, as the line suggests; someone is using an instrument that casts a bright light upon the shivering goat. As readers may have expected, Alfonzo the good Samaritan reaps an eventual reward. The art is appropriate: brightly colored, stylized, anthropomorphic animals—humorously goggle-eyed—appear in various indoor and outdoor landscapes. The layout aids in a read-aloud: Sometimes end rhymes and ending near rhymes are situated so that a reader can pause and let listeners guess the pending word. But that doesn’t make it good verse.
This morality tale tries too hard to be a poem. (Picture book. 3-4)Pub Date: Dec. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-901-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
Unfortunate and inappropriate.
Mouse, squirrel, bird, rabbit, boar and deer all wonder what an acorn will become, and it promises to feed and shelter these animals once it is grown.
Each critter, arriving on the scene in profile, greets the acorn on a double-page spread and asks, “Little acorn, little acorn, what will you be?” The answers that the acorn gives, in a loose rhyme scheme, vary slightly, but its response to the boar is the most creative: “Someday I’ll be a great big tree, and my bark will scratch your back.” The last few pages show the acorn growing into a tall oak and fulfilling its pledge to the animals. Against swathes of green representing a grassy landscape, Gibbs’ creatures, which look to have been created with watercolor and ink, are comically droll and add energy to the staid subject matter. Attached to the cover are two unnecessary felt leaves, thus making the book “Not suitable for children under 3 years old,” as the very tiny fine print on the back of the book notes. As was also the case with Gibbs’ Little Bee (2012), which had fabric wings on the cover, this choking-hazard gimmick makes the book unsafe to use with the typical board-book audience of babies and toddlers and severely limits the age range with which this title can be shared.
Unfortunate and inappropriate. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: April 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-316-12708-0
Page Count: 20
Publisher: LB Kids/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
For lift-the-flap done right, skip this one and choose Lucy Cousins’ Maisy’s Big Flap Book (2001) or one of Karen Katz’s...
A chunky lift-the-flap board book about a little lost duckling reunited with its family.
Mama Duck has lost her littlest egg. The ladybugs haven’t seen it. Neither have the fish. The Easter Bunny, however, knows exactly where to look. After the family is reunited, they all go home for a good night’s rest. The text incorporates a lift-the-flap feature, but there does not seem to be much rhyme or reason behind this choice. Seemingly random parts of the text and illustrations are hidden under flaps, with the only rhetorically effective spread being the one featuring the flap that turns out to be hiding the little duck. The illustrations incorporate animals made of Play-Doh, lending them a distinct Claymation quality. They are very colorful but so busy as to appear crowded. Little ones might enjoy looking for the yellow eggshell containing the missing duckling on several of the pages if they are not too distracted by the unnecessary flaps.
For lift-the-flap done right, skip this one and choose Lucy Cousins’ Maisy’s Big Flap Book (2001) or one of Karen Katz’s delightful outings, such as Where Is Baby’s Yummy Tummy? (2011) or Where Is Baby’s Puppy? (2011). (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-60710-771-2
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Silver Dolphin
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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