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NOTHING RHYMES WITH ORANGE

Name: NOTHING RHYMES WITH ORANGE
Author: Adam Rex
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5443-5

by Adam Rex ; illustrated by Adam Rex ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2017

Fruitful in every sense of the word.

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As page after page uses rhymes and puns to celebrate fruits, an orange, who is sadly aware of its nonrhyming name, provides commentary that encompasses a wide range of emotions—ending with a feeling of acceptance from the greater fruit community.

Funny, clever, and whimsical text includes a plethora of both terminal and internal rhymes. The fruits are collaged photographs that have been anthropomorphized with inked-on limbs and facial expressions. The expressiveness of the faces—especially of the orange—provides an irresistible match to the text. A bold-lettered refrain celebrates fruit: “They’re healthy happy colorful and cute!” The solitary orange gives various negative reactions to that litany and other verses, but readers will see through these defense mechanisms. Especially funny is the orange’s response to “If you aren’t a fan of cantaloupe, / then feed it to an antelope.” Staring up at the large, black woodblock print of the animal, upon whose back teeters the eponymous melon, the orange comments, “Well, that was a little forced.” Another treat (mostly for adults) is mustachioed Friedrich Nietzsche rhyming with “lychee” and “peachy.” After the orange finally admits that the book about fruit is “amazing,” a kind, observant apple brings the sulking citrus warmly into the group. Slight differences in typeface distinguish between the orange’s dialogue and the rest of the text, cuing caregivers to change voices for a perfect read-aloud.

Fruitful in every sense of the word. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4521-5443-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
TUMBLEBABY
by Adam Rex ; illustrated by Audrey Helen Weber

- BOOK REVIEW
THE STORY OF GUMLUCK AND THE DRAGON’S EGGS
by Adam Rex ; illustrated by Adam Rex

- BOOK REVIEW
THE STORY OF GUMLUCK THE WIZARD
by Adam Rex ; illustrated by Adam Rex

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

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...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IMANI'S MOON

by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Hazel Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2014

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...

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Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.

The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)