While the book is visually appealing, the plot is very thin and not likely to inspire demands for rereading.
Fed up with the aquatic life, a fish ventures onto land, spawning eons of evolutionary change.
Bold, striking illustrations—black permanent marker outlines on a plain white background with solid blocks of red and blue—adorn this fanciful tale. As the now-amphibious creature becomes a reptile and then a mammal, it survives the events that kill off the dinosaurs, turns into a primate, walks upright, and finally becomes a white-skinned, red-haired, bearded man. Next come hunting, cave painting, and building structures of increasing complexity. The story ends with a small, white-skinned, red-haired boy dreaming of someday flying, superhero fashion. A timeline and author’s note provide additional information on the science of evolution written at a level far more advanced than the rest of the text. Evolution is, of course, a very complex topic, and Sullivan clarifies that he has written “a fictional story inspired by the science of evolution.” Young readers will get a general sense of the overall development of life forms over time and may be prompted to consider the abilities or characteristics they would like to develop if only wishing could make it so. Due to Sullivan’s choice of palette and style, they will miss the fact of Homo sapiens’ African origins.
While the book is visually appealing, the plot is very thin and not likely to inspire demands for rereading. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-245198-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 27, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
An engaging story arguing for the marriage of technology with creativity and play.
A young girl receives a puzzling gift.
Young Charlotte has always been the most tech-savvy member of her family, helping her mother with a tablet and her father with the smart TV. After Charlotte’s parents observe a news report cautioning against letting kids get “too techy,” the couple presents Charlotte with a doll. The doll doesn’t move or think—it simply sits and utters the word “Ma-ma.” Charlotte reasons that for a doll to talk it must have a power supply, and with a few modifications and a little imagination, Charlotte’s doll becomes Doll-E 1.0. The STEM-friendly narrative is brought to life with charming pencil-and-watercolor illustrations, edited in Photoshop. The scratchy lines are reminiscent of the pictures children like Charlotte sketch at their drawing boards, and the dynamic compositions burst with energy. Charlotte is an engaging character, expressive and thoughtful in equal measure. Charlotte’s doll is adorably rendered, looking mostly like any other common doll but just unique enough that little ones may want one of their own. Charlotte and her family present white; little dog Bluetooth is a scruffy, white terrier.
An engaging story arguing for the marriage of technology with creativity and play. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-51031-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A particularly soppy, sloppy addition to an already-overstuffed genre.
A bear cub gets a load of lyrical loving from a lumbering parent in this nature walk.
Expressed in stumbling rhyme—“I love you more than trees / love to change with every season. / I love you more than anything. / I cannot name just one reason”—Benson’s perfervid sentiments accompany scenes of bear and cub strolling through stands of birch, splashing into a river to watch (just watch) fish, and, in a final moonlit scene, cuddling beneath starry skies. Foxes, otters, and other animal parents and offspring, likewise adoring, make foreground cameos along the way in Lambert’s neatly composed paper-collage–style illustrations. Since the bears are obvious stand-ins for humans (the cub even points at things and in most views is posed on two legs), the gender ambiguity in both writing and art allow human readers some latitude in drawing personal connections, but that’s not enough to distinguish this uninspired effort among the teeming swarm of “I Love You This Much!” titles.
A particularly soppy, sloppy addition to an already-overstuffed genre. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68010-022-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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