Momo’s cousins are excited for his visit, but they have trouble figuring out how to play with him until they accept him on his own terms.
Momo arrives with his world-traveling suitcase and a friendly smile. He’s a flying squirrel, but he won’t show off his skills for his cousins’ forest friends. Mom and Dad are full of good advice: “Give him some time”; “Just make him feel welcome!” Momo tries to join in his cousins’ games, but nothing works out right. When they suggest playing superheroes, he dresses up as a giant pink Muffin Man. He even messes up hide-and-seek! When his cousins get angry, a tearful Momo packs his bags, leading his cousins to think “maybe we had gone too far.” Strong lines, bold, matte colors, and crisp white space focus the attention on the characters’ feelings. OHora uses spare language and expressive figures, giving young readers room to reflect on the squirrel cousins’ actions. The turning point, when the cousins realize how they have hurt Momo, takes place in a wonderful wordless spread. Soon the cousins realize that trying out new things can actually be a lot of fun.
OHora’s story soars, encouraging acceptance and being true to yourself. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 2, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4011-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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SEEN & HEARD
Hee haw.
21
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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. 29, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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