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FAST FOOD! GULP! GULP!

Kids are prime targets of fast food chain marketing, with a corresponding decline in juvenile nutrition that concerns parents and health professionals. Waber (The Mouse That Snored, 2000, etc.) takes a humorous, gently chiding look at our national tendency to grab and gorge with a rollicking, rhyming text incorporating lists of sound-effect words in staccato couplets. (“Slurp, slurp! Burp, burp!”) His whimsical watercolors show a variety of anthropomorphic mammals chowing down on both familiar fast food fare and all sorts of additional restaurant dishes that kids like. The confusing story line cuts between a food court and three fast food restaurants, all owned by take-charge male animals who demand ever-faster eating. A closer view of one restaurant shows an all-male counter crew and an all-female kitchen crew, with a female cook (a pig) who abruptly quits because she can’t take the pace. She moves on to a better job at the Veggie Hut, whose patrons enjoy “taking time to enjoy the scenery.” Some snide rhyming couplets from the fast food customers describe her descent “into a snit.” (“Began to pout.” “Then walked out.”) We all need fewer french fries and more broccoli, but we don’t need to see an old-boy network of exclusively male business owners, an outmoded view of an emotional female in the kitchen, or sensitive vegetarians. Humorous illustrations, confusing setting changes, and outmoded stereotypes don’t add up to a Happy Meal. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-618-14189-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2001

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BECAUSE I HAD A TEACHER

A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.

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A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.

This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.

A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 1, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Compendium

Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017

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I WISH YOU MORE

Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.

A collection of parental wishes for a child.

It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.

Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015

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