A wild custody battle over a pig becomes the raison d’être for Ahlberg père’s latest deconstruction of the picture book. From an opening that directly addresses the reader (or listener) and lays out the various verbal ingredients for the story to come, to a conclusion that somewhat ruefully considers the ingredients that were left by the wayside, this story constantly draws attention to its artifice. Ahlberg fille’s cartoony illustrations romp across the page in a raucously choreographed dance with the text, employing arrows and diagrams that helpfully guide the reader (or listener) through the story. The actual story gleefully participates in almost every available cliché: Mr. Harbottle, Solomonically determined to have his half of the pig Esmeralda for sausages, hires the very dim Swiggins Brothers to do the deed. While Mrs. Harbottle frets, plucky neighbors Rose and Billy “(still in their pyjamas)” thwart the plan. The fun does not obscure the senior Ahlberg’s very serious commitment to words, and one can only hope that readers (and listeners) will take him up on his exhortation to use some good ones in stories of their own. (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: May 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-7636-2373-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2004
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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