Cleverly meta and totally fun, with a spoonful of (almost tongue-in-cheek) morals thrown in.
A motley crew of character types argues over what kind of book they are in, in this humorous meta-romp.
The text begins like a rebus: “Aa is for [a drawing of apples]” set on a bright yellow background. The capital A has eyes and a mouth, as does one of the apples in the small pile. But from across the gutter, a brown-skinned, curly-haired girl in a red, hooded cape peeks from the spread beyond, folding back the page and calling, “Hey! This is not an alphabet book!” A is disappointed but joins the girl on the next spread, which reads “ONCE UPON A TIME…” and is set in the woods. The girl assures A that the thing “lurking in the shadows” is going to be a wolf. But on the next spread, she is surprised when it is a robot that declares, “This is not that kind of book.” On come more changes in setting, and characters conscious of their own tropes and types vie for dominance over the narrative until at last they work together to discover the book’s important lesson: that they all belong. The narrative text shares space with dialogue bubbles, reinforcing the feeling of intrusion and interruption. Mantle’s clear and humorous illustrations give characters distinct personalities and go far to increase the playfulness and storyline with fake page turns and no-man’s-land white space.
Cleverly meta and totally fun, with a spoonful of (almost tongue-in-cheek) morals thrown in. (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-58029-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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
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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