Fun to read and visually appealing but unlikely to be a perennial favorite.
Humorous rhymes and comical pictures compare stereotypical expectations of princesses and dragons, ending with a sly observation.
On the first verso, a froglike creature is reading a book that is explained on the recto: “Would you rather be a princess or a dragon? You’ll never know which one to be until you’ve tried. / If you want to be a princess or a dragon, here’s a book that might help you decide.” The text goes on to compare such “truisms” as princesses’ preference for the color pink and dragons’ for green; bubble baths vs. dirt and dainty eating vs. gorging are a couple of the other sets of oppositions. Striving for consistent rhyme can be a challenge: it’s a stretch to think of “a perfect princess wave” as the opposite of looking for “the perfect dragon cave.” The rhymes do not always scan well, but the combination of mixed-media cartoon art and lighthearted text will keep young children engaged. The face of the princess is a few shades darker than lily-white, topped by wavy auburn hair; the friendly-appearing dragon seems to be cut from textured green paper, its features inked on top. The use of photographed pink bubble wrap for the princess’s bubble bath adds to the frivolous mood. The ending combines a not-very-subtle reminder about the need to question behavioral expectations for children with a sight gag.
Fun to read and visually appealing but unlikely to be a perennial favorite. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62672-358-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Let these crayons go back into their box.
The Crayons return to celebrate Easter.
Six crayons (Red, Orange, Yellow, Esteban, who is green and wears a yellow cape, White, and Blue) each take a shape and scribble designs on it. Purple, perplexed and almost angry, keeps asking why no one is creating an egg, but the six friends have a great idea. They take the circle decorated with red shapes, the square adorned with orange squiggles “the color of the sun,” the triangle with yellow designs, also “the color of the sun” (a bit repetitious), a rectangle with green wavy lines, a white star, about which Purple remarks: “DID you even color it?” and a rhombus covered with blue markings and slap the shapes onto a big, light-brown egg. Then the conversation turns to hiding the large object in plain sight. The joke doesn’t really work, the shapes are not clear enough for a concept book, and though colors are delineated, it’s not a very original color book. There’s a bit of clever repartee. When Purple observe that Esteban’s green rectangle isn’t an egg, Esteban responds, “No, but MY GOSH LOOK how magnificent it is!” Still, that won’t save this lackluster book, which barely scratches the surface of Easter, whether secular or religious. The multimedia illustrations, done in the same style as the other series entries, are always fun, but perhaps it’s time to retire these anthropomorphic coloring implements. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Let these crayons go back into their box. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-62105-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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