This silly tale of two cats of two colors finding both self and joint happiness may well provoke conversations.
Who is handsomer, the white cat or the black cat?
In a waterfront vacation spot with outdoor cafes for tourists as the setting, two cats appear who are good friends. The black cat is “black as tar,” while the white cat is “white as whitewash.” Each then claims to be the better-looking one, resulting in a petty quarrel and a parting of the ways. But then each cat is filled with doubt. Maybe the disputed claims are correct and the other cat is truly more handsome. The cats then come up with a solution to the quandary, the white cat immersing itself in tar while the black cat whitewashes itself. This is in no way a resolution, of course, and it’s achieved with the obvious difficulties of maintaining the new colorations. Back to their original states they go, sharing a rekindling of their camaraderie over drinks and a resounding “Meow!” The story, translated into rhyming couplets from Hebrew, is told in cartoon panels with line drawings and people presenting in shades of white, orange, and blue. Readers may be left with questions. Is this simply an entertaining story about irksome quarreling, or is there a deeper issue that can be applied to humankind? The cats are mute on that.
This silly tale of two cats of two colors finding both self and joint happiness may well provoke conversations. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68396-266-3
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too many bugs, figuratively.
Lucy, “the youngest member of a family of fireflies,” must overcome an irrational, moon-induced anxiety in order to leave her family tree trunk and glow.
The first six pages pull readers into a lush, beautiful world of nighttime: “When the sun has set, silence falls over the Big Forest, and all of the nighttime animals wake up.” Mixed media provide an enchanting forest background, with stylized flora and fauna eventually illuminated by a large, benign moon, because the night “doesn’t like to catch them by surprise.” Turning the page catches readers by surprise, though: the family of fireflies is decidedly comical and silly-looking. Similarly, the text moves from a lulling, magical cadence to a distinct shift in mood as the bugs ready themselves for their foray into the night: “They wave their bottoms in the air, wiggle their feelers, take a deep, deep breath, and sing, ‘Here we go, it’s time to glow!’ ” It’s an acceptable change, but more unevenness follows. Lucy’s excitement about finally joining the other bugs turns to “sobbing” two nights in a row. Instead of directly linking her behavior to understandable reactions of children to newness, the text undermines itself by making Lucy’s parents’ sweet reassurances impotent and using the grandmother’s scientific explanation of moonlight as an unnecessary metaphor. Further detracting from the story, the text becomes ever denser and more complex over the book’s short span.
Too many bugs, figuratively. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-84-16147-00-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
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