Readers will have a view to a kill-er book!
A deceptive doppelgänger can’t stop the fun!
Charlie Palmer, aka Agent Llama, is back for another mission, and the stakes are even higher! Charlie is fresh off a successful assignment rescuing a pair of underpants in Agent Llama (2021), and this sophomore title ups the danger as the world is threatened with carb overload. The evil Noodle Doom Machine—think a sinister version of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs—has been compromised, and the world is threatened with a cascade of extreme spaghetti, barricades of grated cheese, and waves of marinara sauce. More alarmingly, the vile villain responsible looks exactly like Charlie! With HQ out of commission, there’s no time to lose as Agent Llama prepares to take on this terrorist twin alone—with her assortment of zany spy gadgets. Spy fans will have a (thunder)ball with the over-the-top storyline, and storytellers who lean into the melodrama will have fun sharing the tale, too. The meter flows well for reading aloud, and the colorful, delightfully busy illustrations pay homage to classic spy thrillers while still feeling modern and fresh. Trivia-loving caregivers and educators could use this to discuss the differences between llamas and alpacas, but readers who are just here for the adventure will get a kick out of the story alone. Like many spy adventures—including the earlier installment—the book emphasizes the action over logic, but the thrills more than compensate. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Readers will have a view to a kill-er book! (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68010-285-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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
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