A frog prince lets it be known that he’s “receiving,” and 26 applicants respond, from Princess Alice (“First to the palace”) on through the rest of the letters. The text is all one-line captions. As they make their way successively into the Prince’s presence, each of the lasses—variously dressed and with a variety of hair and skin colors—displays an aggressive, larger-than-life personality in the big, comical cartoon portraits. Often they pair off; Princess Heather is “dressed for the weather,” but plainly furious Princess Isabella “has no umbrella,” for instance, and Princess Xena is “a true ballerina,” but clumsy Princess Yvette “isn’t one, yet.” The royal visits aren’t all daintiness and good manners, either; Princess Ruth is “mithing a tooth,” Princess Criss isn’t the only one who tries to “steal a kiss” and pink clouds floating behind Princess Nell (“What is that smell?”) signal alimentary issues. Once Princess Zaire is “finally there,” Horowitz assembles them all in a boisterous final foldout as “A royal pain in the alphabet!” Young readers and listeners of both sexes will laugh and agree. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-24607-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2008
Essentially a follow-up to Robert Kraus’s Leo the Late Bloomer (1971) and like tales of developing competency, this follows an exuberant child from morning wash-up to lights out at night, cataloguing the tasks and skills he has mastered. Activities include dressing himself and joining in school activities, choosing his own books, helping with dinner and other household responsibilities, and taking a bath alone before bedtime. In Aliki’s sunny, simplified pictures, it’s a child’s world, seen from low angles and with adults putting in only occasional appearances. Like the lad, the fitfully rhymed text gallops along, sometimes a little too quickly—many illustrations are matched to just a word or two, so viewers aren’t always given much time to absorb one image before being urged on to the next—but underscoring the story’s bustling energy. Young readers and pre-readers will respond enthusiastically to this child’s proud self-assurance, and be prompted to take stock of their own abilities too. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-028929-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches...
Listeners will quickly take up the percussive chorus—“Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy town! Is the trash truck full yet? NO”—as they follow burly Mr. Gilly, the garbage collector, on his rounds from park to pizza parlor and beyond.
Flinging cans and baskets around with ease, Mr. Gilly dances happily through streetscapes depicted with loud colors and large, blocky shapes; after a climactic visit to the dump, he roars home for a sudsy bath.
Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches Eve Merriam’s Bam Bam Bam (1995), also illustrated by Yaccarino, for sheer verbal and visual volume. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-027139-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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