Arr-guably the best pirate fairy tale to sail the seven storytimes.
Who dares board a most worthy sea vessel when its inhabitants are out? Best be looking for the telltale golden hair.
A piratical Mama, Papa, and Baby sail upon their sloop, a villain every one. Tired of hardtack, Mama attempts some good old-fashioned gruel, but she burns it (cooking’s not really her forte, but she wields a mean cutlass). As they row ashore in their dinghy for fresh water and let the gruel cool off, a lonesome girl follows her nose to the cooling breakfast. Instead of just going through the familiar fairy-tale motions, Goldenlocks fixes up, improves, and generally makes everything better onboard. And when she’s discovered, do the pirates offer her the plank? Nay, she’s given a job as the newest recruit instead! Salerno fills the illustrations chock-full of delightful details, the wind-tousled figures, all evidently white, rendered in jewel tones. The pirates prove a comical foil to the ever savvy Goldenlocks. In upsetting the clumsy-housebreaker trope, the titular heroine is something of a jack-of-all-trades, making her a perfect complement to other STEM-girl heroines. Somewhat less forward-thinking is that it’s Mama pirate who is the cook in the family while peg-legged Papa watches; some stereotypes don’t die.
Arr-guably the best pirate fairy tale to sail the seven storytimes. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Nov. 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-374-30074-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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