Cazet’s cows are back (Minnie and Moo Meet Frankenswine, 2001, etc.), charming as ever, in an easy reader that is as loopy as ever. Minnie and Moo are soaking in the summer sun when a spaceship plows into the adjacent field. At first they think it might be a new type of tractor, but then the pilot, a one-eyed potato with green bristles whose name is Spud, pops out. Spud tells them the alarming news that he is in the process—after stopping for donuts and then getting lost—of delivering some anti-bump cream to prevent the planets from bumping themselves to bits. Now he needs to repair his spaceship and secure some space fuel. Repairing the rocket is no sweat—Minnie and Moo let Spud cannibalize their farm tractor for parts; they know it has the necessaries because they took the tractor to the Moon on a previous adventure. But the space fuel, that’s a tickler, until Minnie has a brainstorm: Could Milk be space fuel? Yes, cries Spud, though it must have high-cream content. Minnie’s the cow to deliver just such, which she does, demurely, as a barnyard chorus warbles “Home, Home on the Range.” Spud blasts off and all is right in a bump-free solar system. Weird in all the right ways, from the strange little verbal asides to Minnie’s mop of blond curls. Another mooover from Cazet. (Easy reader. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-06-623750-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2002
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
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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