Sparky the penguin lives in a medium-sized city with his best friend, the very nice dog, Blinky. Problem is, this medium-sized city has a very silly mayor. He decides the police need to wear clown suits to fight crime. He thinks firefighters should put out fires with delicious peanut butter, and he thinks everyone should paint green-and-purple stripes on their houses. Sparky’s sure everyone will be incensed, but the media laud the ideas. When robbers get away with money and houses catch fire, Sparky confronts the mayor. Everyone admits they never thought the mayor’s ideas were good; they just didn’t want to get laughed at. Importing the retro look and cast of his adult syndicated comic This Modern World, Tomorrow, aka Dan Perkins, an award-winning liberal political cartoonist, aims this lesson in the dangers of groupthink and necessity of questioning authority at an audience too young for it. Older preschoolers and early-elementary children might enjoy the silliness and the bright, flat cartoon art, but they sure won’t understand it. This didactic effort will work best with adult fans of Tomorrow’s work. (Picture book. 20 & up)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-935439-01-1
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Ig Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2009
Duck Is Dirty ($4.95; August 26, 1996; 16 pp.; 0-374-31885-9): This book recounts the modest tribulations of Duck during a potentially pleasant stroll. It starts raining, he gets his feet muddy, is buffeted by winds, papered by leaves, and takes a header into the muck. A dip in the pond and Duck is good as new. Kitamura coaxes an appealing story from this 19-word trifle; one, moreover, that will ring familiar with the intended audience. The misleadingly simple artwork is graphically sophisticated, with Duck coming across as a winsome geek. Companion volumes are Squirrel Is Hungry (0-374-37171-7), Cat Is Sleepy (31223-0), and Dog Is Thirsty (31806-9). (Board book. 1-3)
Pub Date: Aug. 26, 1996
ISBN: 0-374-31885-9
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1996
The little terrier from the sublimely surreal Bow-Wow Bugs a Bug (2007) has moved to board books, a format well-suited to his colorful, graphic simplicity. Here Bow-Wow tugs a “Red!” sock off a human foot, revealing an “Orange!” one and so on to “Purple!” and, finally, naked tootsies: “Lick!” In each spread, the left-hand image depicts Bow-Wow beginning to pull the sock, the right-hand image showing the sock mostly pulled off with the next-colored sock beneath it and a quizzical expression on Bow-Wow’s face. Simple enough for babies to work on the concept, weird enough to appeal to parental readers again and again. Companion Bow-Wow 12 Months Running (ISBN: 978-0-15-206558-4) is a little on the complex side for the baby half of the audience. (6-18 mos.)
Pub Date: April 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-15-206564-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2009
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