by Wade Bradford ; illustrated by Mary Ann Fraser ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2018
This is metafiction done very well; it’s actually three stories in one: Goldilocks’, Papa Bear’s, and of course, the one...
Fractured versions of familiar tales never seem to get old; they’re almost always funny, especially with a main character as hilariously abashed as this one.
The main player is ostensibly Goldilocks, but it’s really Papa Bear, who is the only one who doesn’t realize he’s in a book. Once he does, nerves get the best of him: After uttering his first line correctly, his worries become self-fulfilling when he sits on Baby Bear’s too-small chair, which of course smashes into smithereens, tumbling an embarrassed Papa to the floor. He flees the pages and dashes through other stories, Goldilocks and Baby Bear in hot pursuit, eventually to be drawn back by the smell of Mama’s porridge. Cheerful, bright illustrations utilize creative devices to clarify the action: Characters are able to see (and physically manipulate) the Narrator’s lines; the parts of the plot set in other books are signaled by illustrated page corners turning up or by showing an actual book opened up and Papa Bear romping through its illustrations.
This is metafiction done very well; it’s actually three stories in one: Goldilocks’, Papa Bear’s, and of course, the one read by the Narrator character. All will have children chortling. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: April 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4413-2598-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peter Pauper Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
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by Tedd Arnold ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2013
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity.
Buzz and his buzzy buddy open a spinoff series of nonfiction early readers with an aquarium visit.
Buzz: “Like other fish, sharks breathe through gills.” Fly Guy: “GILLZZ.” Thus do the two pop-eyed cartoon tour guides squire readers past a plethora of cramped but carefully labeled color photos depicting dozens of kinds of sharks in watery settings, along with close-ups of skin, teeth and other anatomical features. In the bite-sized blocks of narrative text, challenging vocabulary words like “carnivores” and “luminescence” come with pronunciation guides and lucid in-context definitions. Despite all the flashes of dentifrice and references to prey and smelling blood in the water, there is no actual gore or chowing down on display. Sharks are “so cool!” proclaims Buzz at last, striding out of the gift shop. “I can’t wait for our next field trip!” (That will be Fly Guy Presents: Space, scheduled for September 2013.)
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity. (Informational easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-50771-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
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by Mo Willems ; illustrated by Mo Willems ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 4, 2014
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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