Middleton’s quirky debut features a spunky heroine and her troublesome, tenacious tooth. Attracted by her father’s tales of a fairy bearing money, Tabitha is overjoyed when she discovers her first loose tooth. Although the recalcitrant tooth wriggles promisingly, it does not fall out. Undeterred, Tabitha concocts some extraordinary schemes to relieve herself of it. Alas, her wacky attempts—which include lassoing a tortoise and tying the string to her tooth, vigorous bouncing on the trampoline, and endeavoring to attract the attentions of a Venus flytrap—all fail to eject the stubborn thing. Desolate and dejected, Tabitha resigns herself to a night without a visit from the Tooth Fairy when a renegade sneeze propels the tooth from her mouth. Middleton’s hilarious tale is just the right prescription for children apprehensively awaiting the loss of their own first tooth, and they’ll be too busy giggling over Tabitha’s escapades to ponder their own anxieties. The offbeat illustrations perfectly complement the text; simple, flat drawings whose bright colors deliberately overlap the lines are set on oversized pages, allowing full range for giant open mouths or off-the-page trampoline bounces. Accompanied by her faithful feline, Tabitha is as much fun to watch as she is to read about. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8037-2583-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2001
Carle (Little Cloud, 1996, etc.) takes as his premise that animals don't have to go to the gym—their natural movements give them plenty of exercise. "I am a giraffe and I bend my neck. Can you do it?" asks the animal of the child. "I can do it!" is the invariable reply. If readers participate in the gestures shown on every page, they'll get something of a work-out, for the analogies are good: foot-stomping elephants, clapping seals, and shoulder-hunching buffalo are enticingly imitatable. The book's large size and bold, brightly colored animals make it ideal for story hours. Unusual for Carle—and highlighted by the emphasis on action—is the stiffness of the collages: Neither children nor animals convey a sense of motion, but appear locked into place. Linda Lowery's Twist With a Burger, Jitter With a Bug (1995) inspires similar participation, but is a more rhythmic and vivacious book. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 11, 1997
ISBN: 0-06-023515-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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