People in houses are upended, and cats and dogs tumble down Willobee Street when Ma Brindle gets out her ``extra-large utensils,'' scratches up some dough, and rolls out a crust for her famous Sweet Dream Pie. Every known candy is mixed into an enormous batter, sending a chocolate tornado through the otherwise average neighborhood. A pie the size of a wading pool comes out of the oven as a clan of rotund, pop-eyed folks bring their giant appetites to gobble down not just one piece, but seconds, thirds, and more, despite Ma Brindle's warning. Wood parodies the gluttony as people and pets become sleepy-eyed sacks of potatoes from overeating—slumping over fences, lolling over windowsills, passing out under bushes. Giant-sized, round-bellied monsters overrun the streets until a broom-wielding Ma Brindle takes charge, setting things right. Teague, who previously collaborated with Wood on The Flying Dragon Room (1996), bends the rules and the landscape by using a distorted, skewed perspective with houses a-tilt, lampposts leaning, and beveled panoramic street scenes, often seen from an aerial view. It accentuates the author's fondness for the preposterous, and follows the badly paced text to a deflated ending. After the tall-tale build-up to the pie's alleged effects, the monsters amount to little more than a burp of indigestion. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-590-96204-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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