Hand this to fans clamoring for new mermaid titles; they’ll learn something, too.
Cheery mermaids sing to their marine neighbors.
Three mermaids, sitting on a coral reef’s rock, pick up their harps and visit underwater friends at day’s end. They bless each finned and shelled resident, whether they dwell and swim in the sea as individuals or in groups. The trio also deliver blessings to mammals, such as otters and whales, and seabirds. Readers will learn interesting bits of information not only about the variety of fascinating creatures that live under the waves, but also about group names for some of these animals: herds of seahorses, squads of squids, and shivers of sharks. Children may be confused by some fish dubbed “kings,” “queens,” “goats,” “surgeons,” and so on, when what’s meant are kingfish, queenfish, goatfish, bat ray, surgeonfish, etc. The endpapers, featuring the creatures included in the book, accompanied by labels, are helpful, though there’s no mention that all these creatures wouldn’t live together in the same waters. At the end, the mermaids are also blessed as they bed down for the night. Overall, this bland, albeit genial, narrative will be most appreciated by mermaid mavens. The verse is sprightly, though sometimes clumsy, while the colorful digital illustrations, dominated by hues of green and blue, vividly depict adorable, anthropomorphized animals, undersea vegetation, and racially diverse mermaids.
Hand this to fans clamoring for new mermaid titles; they’ll learn something, too. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781662640285
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Hippo Park/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
This cautionary tale set in a library with dragon patrons is worth circulating.
Have you ever thought about bringing your dragon to the library? Don’t do it!
In rhyming couplets, a bunch of kids bring their individual dragons (six in all) to the library, and unsurprisingly, they break all the behavior rules. “Maybe you’re thinking, 'Don’t worry, it’s fine. / There’s plenty of space in that library of mine.' / Perhaps that’s true, but he’s sure to roam. / Then you’ll be wishing you had left him at home.” A double-page spread here shows a big, blue dragon with droopy ears nosing around the bookcases, while in the following spread, he’s pushing them over as he tries to fit between them, visually underscoring the refrain: “So do not bring your dragon to the library!” The vibrantly colored illustrations overflow the pages, use aerial perspectives, and accentuate the size of the dragons. It’s a clever approach to proper library do’s and don’ts. Kudos for including a kid in a wheelchair in the thoughtfully diverse cast, but jeers for the stereotypical demiglasses, bun, and drab clothing worn by the black librarian. The dragons are as colorful as the characters are multiracial, appearing in shades of vivid purple, blue, green, and orange polka dots. The text struggles with scansion and rhythm, but the energy of the illustrations helps to mitigate its flaws.
This cautionary tale set in a library with dragon patrons is worth circulating. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62370-651-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The premise is worn gossamer thin, and the joke stopped being funny, if it ever was, long ago.
A fairy tending their garden manages to survive a gaggle of young intruders.
In halting cadences typical of the long-running—and increasingly less amusing—How To Catch… series, the startled mite—never seen face-on in Elkerton’s candy-colored pictures and indeterminate of gender—wonders about the racially diverse interlopers: “Do they know that I can grant wishes? / Or that a new fairy is born when they giggle?” The visual action rather belies the sweetness of the verses, the palette, the bright flowers, and the multicolored resident zebras and unicorns, as after repeated, elaborately designed efforts to trap or even shoot (with a peashooter) the fairy come to naught, the laughing children are escorted out of the garden beneath a rising moon. The encounter ends on a (perhaps unconsciously) ominous note. “Hope they find their way back sometime,” the butterfly-winged narrator concludes. “And just maybe next time they’ll stay!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
The premise is worn gossamer thin, and the joke stopped being funny, if it ever was, long ago. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728263205
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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