The frequently distributed buns aren’t all that’s delicious in this exhilarating suite of variations on a classic.
A familiar old tale is taken for a terrific spin with more bears, three pigs, assorted woodland animals, space aliens, additional young cast members (including one in a red hood) and lots and lots of sticky buns.
Being a “cheeky girl,” Goldilocks thinks nothing of following up her destructive visit to the Three Bears’ cottage by messing around in the seemingly similar “cottage”—which expands to a tall apartment house with the pull of a tab—of the 33 Bears. Then, in 2076, inviting herself into the trood (spaceship) of the Three Bliim for a taste of spootz (“porridge, sort of”) and a nap in the smallest woodootog (bed). In further outings, Goldilocks encounters dishes and other furnishings with minds of their own, plays lead in a theatrical romp presented in an inset booklet containing a script and a pop-up stage, and at last finds a number of unexpected houseguests sleeping in her bed. The very small, very finely drawn figures and households insist on (and reward) close looks, and they are enhanced by an array of surprises revealed beneath flaps or through die-cut windows.
The frequently distributed buns aren’t all that’s delicious in this exhilarating suite of variations on a classic. (Pop-up/fractured fairy tale. 5-9)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6268-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2012
Hee haw.
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. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
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