The man in the moon—Moon Man—"curled up in his shimmering seat in space" yearns to Join the fun on earth. He catches the tail of a passing comet which frightens the night creatures as it crashes and brings soldiers speeding to defend the earth (and the ice cream man to sell to the spectators). The pale, soft creature in the crater is called an invader and thrown in Jail. One night as he wonders at his cruel treatment, the Moon Man notices that his left side has faded. "Why, I must be in my third quarter," he thinks happily. Every night as the moon grows thinner, so does he, until he is able to squeeze through the bars of his window. But his freedom is brief: chased by the police again, Moon Man comes upon an ancient Castle where a long-forgotten scientist is perfecting a spacecraft to reach the moon. Realizing that he can never live peacefully, on earth, Moon Man agrees to be the first passenger. Now that the space-craft has been launched successfully, Herr Doktor receives his delayed recognition; now that he has satisfied his curiosity, the Moon Man remains "ever after curled up in his shimmering seat in space." The contrast between the Moon Man, a foreshortened Uncle Fester, wistful and appealing and immaterial, and the stridency and stupidity of his tormentors' is exploited by the bright, galloping illustrations, as effective as any Tomi Ungerer has done. This has some of the sting of Dr. Strange-love—but tenderized, the contemporary charisma of Where the Wild Things Are: it's great.
Pub Date: March 1, 1967
ISBN: 0714855987
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: Oct. 24, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1967
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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