Sadly, there’s not much to unpack in this box.
A young turtle’s experiences with bullying and friendship lead him on a journey of self-acceptance.
When a pair of box-turtle parents discovers that their baby is born without a shell, they don’t miss a beat. The loving parents “[give] him a name and a shell, both of which fit just right”: Terrance, in a playful nod to his species, wears a cardboard box. Terrance is perfectly happy until a trio of bullies shame him for his unusual shell. Mortified, Terrance leaves the box behind to look for something beyond reproach. Hijinks ensue during Terrance’s search for a new shell, which features the disrobed reptile and his anthropomorphic buttocks on full display. At every step of the determined turtle’s quest, Terrance’s unnamed hermit crab friend is there, supporting Terrance as he tries on box after box. After a roster of options (including a mailbox, a boombox, and a jack-in-the-box) are rejected for their slapstick effects, Terrance is downcast—until the hermit crab offers up their own tiny shell. This generous act of friendship inspires Terrance to return to his beloved cardboard box after all. Among a range of titles featuring a be-true-to-yourself message, this effort doesn’t quite stack up. Aside from its overworked story, the idea that Terrance “[is] so much more than just his shell” implies that he does have an unfortunate attribute. Such a concept does little to challenge the biases of Terrance’s bullies or the false notion that Terrance’s shell is “definitely weird.”
Sadly, there’s not much to unpack in this box. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-73-523050-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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