Banksy might be flattered by this book, but he probably wouldn’t admit it in public.
If Banksy drew a picture book, it probably wouldn’t look like this tale of a mouse graffiti artist.
The pictures in this story are just as funny and mysterious as Banksy’s street art, but they’re more jokey and less obviously political. The anonymous mouse who gives the book its title will paint a bullseye on a lamppost, so dogs can aim at it, or an image of Batman in his boxer shorts. Some of the murals are sweet or wistful, like a field of flowers painted on an array of satellite dishes. They have a huge influence on the other animals in the story. Suddenly, a spider is weaving a web in rainbow colors, and a bird is leaving a path of green footprints across the park. Pirolli’s illustrations of the animals are as funny and mysterious as the works of art. The spider’s eight eyes are so frightening they’re sort of lovable. The humans who appear in the background, in muted colors, come from a variety of races and cultures. The end of the story is both sweet and wistful: Anonymouse leaves the city and its animals on their own, with no explanation, except for one line of text from the author: “The world is his canvas.” Readers may also be left feeling a bit melancholy, but they’ll want to make the world their canvas. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 86.3% of actual size.)
Banksy might be flattered by this book, but he probably wouldn’t admit it in public. (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6394-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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