Fantastic pictures, enchanting snowman characters, and fluid rhymes will be a draw for winter-loving readers, many of whom...
What does a snowman do when he’s challenged to a fight? His young human friend finds out when everyone in the forest gathers to see the epic duel in the latest in Lapid and Pasek’s Snowman Paul series (Snowman Paul at the Concert Hall, 2016, etc.).
Snowman Paul’s young friend Dan worries when he sees his mischievous human friend, Bill, who looks to be up to no good. Bill has befriended Snowman Nick, a behemoth of a snowman with blocky features and a fighter’s exterior. Bill issues the challenge: Nick wants to fight Paul in a snowman duel! What is the twig-haired Paul to do against the pebble-toothed, wicked-looking Nick? Dan is worried, but Paul has no concerns as he smilingly offers a copy of “Rules for Duels in Snowman Land” to Nick and Bill. Bill points out what looks like a wrestling ring on a hill, and they pledge to meet at midnight. All the snowmen and animals and children (including a diverse group of kids who travel via pirate ship) make their ways to the ring, “For Snowman Duels are quite rare.” When Dan arrives ringside, he sees Bill prepared for battle in a helmet and armor with a big stick. But where is Paul? Sleeping! Paul’s still untroubled, climbing into the ring without armor or weapons. Like young readers, who might be nervous by this point, Dan can’t watch. But when he opens his eyes, it’s over, and Paul is the victor. It turns out that Snowman Duels are just glorified staring contests and that Paul and Nick are good friends. In her eye-catching illustrations, Pasek uses contrasting color to great effect, accenting her cartoonlike characters with bright yellows and oranges against a blue winter background. The anticlimactic ending may be a relief for young readers concerned about what would happen to poor Paul, but stouter-hearted readers may be disappointed that there wasn’t any risk to begin with; Paul let Dan worry the whole story for naught.
Fantastic pictures, enchanting snowman characters, and fluid rhymes will be a draw for winter-loving readers, many of whom will wish they had their own snowman friends to duel with.Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-949091-13-7
Page Count: 50
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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
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
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