Martin rocks on with his current collaborator (Adam, Adam What Do You See?, not reviewed, etc.), in a garden-themed counting book obviously intended as a companion to the ever-popular Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989). Large numerals interact with jolly dancing vegetables, counting up to ten and back down again until they hop into a cooking pot, creating vegetable soup with numerals instead of alphabet letters for a boy and girl who are the “king and queen” of the garden. The rhyme scheme is similar to that of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, but in this case a few of the rhymes are a bit forced and stretch too hard for excitement that isn’t really there in the lineup of numbers. A few of the vegetables won’t be familiar to most kids (okra and eggplant), and watermelon is also included with the vegetables, which will send some puzzled readers to the encyclopedia—horticulturists consider watermelon a vegetable. Cahoon’s computer-generated illustrations offer appealing vegetables with bright-eyed grins and humorous touches such as sunglasses and tiny dotted arms and legs. Although this effort doesn’t quite match the magic of Martin’s best work, these dancing numbers and veggies will fit right in to story hours with themes of gardens, soup, or counting. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8050-6304-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2001
An inviting look at the first day of school in Miss Bindergarten's class. The simple rhyming text tells how the animal children get ready for the big event; as a bonus, the names of the students are listed alphabetically, each first letter corresponding to its animal type (Jessie is a jaguar, Zak is a zebra, etc.): ``Gwen McGunny/packs her bunny./Henry Fetter/fights his sweater.'' The procession is interspersed with the preparations of Miss Bindergarten, aided by her pet cockatoo, in her classroom. Wolff's fine illustrations add texture to a fairly simple concept. The teacher is depicted as an efficient sheepdog; eager and organized, she tapes notes on her furniture reminding her to ``have fun,'' yet forgets to take the price tag off her dress. The use of extinct animals for the more obscure letters only adds to the fun. In this soothing introduction to an anxiety-filled event, Slate (Who Is Coming to Our House?, 1988, etc.) makes the first day a pleasure for everyone involved. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-525-45446-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1996
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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