Engaging and fun, as all learning should be.
Martínez reveals the hidden secrets of the legendary Mexican jumping beans in her picture-book debut.
As the title asserts, the jumping bean is “not a bean” but the seed pod of a desert plant known as the yerba de la flecha, which hides a secret stowaway. A female moth has laid her eggs near the seed pods of the yerba plant, and when they hatch, the caterpillars crawl inside, using the seed pod for protection and sustenance before pupating and emerging as adult moths. As a seed-encased caterpillar jumps around the desert floor seeking shelter and safety, readers count along in Spanish while learning vocabulary related to the desert ecosystem: cascabeles (rattlesnakes) and arroyos (streams), for example. González’s bright, friendly illustrations depict a vibrant desert teeming with life—far from the desolation often associated with its dry climate. “Siete amigos” also join the proceedings, depicted in varying shades of tan and peach, appearing to represent some of the diversity in skin tone among Mesoamerican peoples. Much like the seed pods’ concealed cargo, this informational picture book packs plenty of facts and learning moments into a thoroughly entertaining package.
Engaging and fun, as all learning should be. (glossary, author’s note) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-58089-815-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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