This could be worse…but it could be better.
Two shipwrecked sailors hold different viewpoints about their situation.
Out on the open ocean, Albertini (brown-skinned, with dark hair, wearing a knitted cap and blue sailor stripes) and George (white-skinned, with bright orange hair and a blue sweater) float on a fragment of their ill-fated ship. The placid, empty ocean shows no sign of other sailors nor other parts of the ship. It begins to rain, but just on them: a narrow, personalized storm. Albertini shouts, “This is so unfair!”—but: “It could be worse,” counters chin-up George. A chain of cartoonishly bad (and lackadaisically disparate) events unfolds: Flying fish drop diarrhea on them; mermaids wearing onesies sing a song that gets stuck in their heads; a sea anemone pulls them to the ocean’s floor; a whale swallows them down into its belly, where they find Rodin’s The Thinker, Pinocchio, and telephones from various bygone eras among other esoterica. Each event distresses poor Albertini while chipper George repeatedly murmurs that things could be worse. The refrain begs for an ending with a strong (and pattern-relevant) punch, swerve, or affirmation, but none comes. Instead, several implausible strokes of luck—overly casual luck that the text never acknowledges—reunite Albertini and George with their multiracial crew and the inexplicably restored (though not whole) components of the missing ship. Tsarfati’s wiry illustrations lean on concept more than aesthetic or visual engagement.
This could be worse…but it could be better. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1791-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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