by William Joyce & illustrated by William Joyce & developed by MoonBot Studios ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 26, 2011
The story of Morris Lessmore and his beloved books ends with an unexpected emotional punch, a satisfying, lovely finish for...
A poignant, potent ode to books (the paper kind) that combines top-notch animation, just the right amount of interactivity and a tear-jerking story.
Based on a 15-minute animated short (which can be downloaded from iTunes via a link in the app's main menu), this pitch-perfect adaptation captures much of the nuance and emotion of the source material without trying too hard to capture every beat. Morris Lessmore, who appears to be modeled after silent film–era comics like Buster Keaton, is a writer whose obsession with the written word is evident by the precariously stacked books around him. After a storm flings him from his balcony and literally blows the words off the pages of all the town's tomes, Morris finds himself wandering until he spots a woman flying through the air, carried by bird-like books. An anthropomorphic version of "Humpty Dumpty" befriends Morris and leads him to a magical library, where he'll write his own story and care for the residents there. Though the app's text is all original (the short film features no dialogue or voice over, only music), it sparkles. In the library, "The tragedies needed to be cheered up and would visit with the comedies. The Encyclopedias, weary of facts would relax with the comic books and fictions. All in all, it was an agreeable jumble." Merely adapting the story well from the film might legitimately have been enough. But the interactive elements, including a playable piano, books that speak in distinct book quotes when touched and small games, don't feel at all tacked on; they enrich the experience without detracting from the main story or disrupting its flow.
The story of Morris Lessmore and his beloved books ends with an unexpected emotional punch, a satisfying, lovely finish for an altogether winning app. (iPad storybook app. 4-12)Pub Date: May 26, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: MoonBot Studios
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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by William Joyce ; illustrated by MoonBot Studios
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developed by MoonBot Studios
by E.B. White illustrated by Garth Williams ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 1952
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
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by E.B. White & illustrated by Maggie Kneen
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by E.B. White illustrated by Fred Marcellino
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by E.B. White illustrated by Garth Williams
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PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings
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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino
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