Children will clamor to join in the wild rumpus.
A trip to the zoo could result in a hullabaloo if the soundly sleeping panda is disturbed.
Written in a rollicking, rhyming text, the first paragraph of the story starts off innocently enough. “So you’re here at the zoo on this glorious day. / You’re sure to have fun—it’s a great place to play. / Come in. Look around. Relax and explore. / Inside you will find there are creatures galore. / You’ll have a magnificent time at the zoo….” But that ellipsis leads readers across the gutter to a final clause: “… just don’t wake the panda whatever you do.” Readers soon learn of the consequences. If the panda wakes up “he gets very grumpy, / which hypes up the hippos and makes them all jumpy.” This sets off a chain reaction among the zoo animals: the geckos and gibbons start giggling, the chimps “chit-chatter,” the yaks (of course) start yakking, “the crocodile, too, starts snapping on cue,” and so on, until “there’s grunting and growling and prancing and prowling,” ultimately causing a stampede. Owen’s rhyming text—awkward at times—is augmented by Nixon’s bold and striking illustrations starring a whole cast of creatures. Somersaulting hippos, trumpeting elephants, and hopping kangaroos rendered in vivid, matte colors all add to the party atmosphere. Packed with fun animal noises and dynamic actions to mimic, it may be the ultimate read-aloud.
Children will clamor to join in the wild rumpus. (Picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61067-619-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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