A carefully formatted book with supportive features baked in brings new energy to the task of learning to read.
High-interest, low-reading-level stories present a fun way to reinforce phonics skills for readers who need a boost.
Best friends Meg and Greg face tricky situations and daring adventures in several entertaining tales. Dilemmas range from replacing a sibling’s missing fish to helping ranch animals escape from a wildfire; they will hold readers’ interest as they create opportunities to bolster phonics skills. Each of the four segments contains episodic chapters in prose paired with comics-style panels, cartoon illustrations, and speech bubbles that will foster engagement and support reading development. Labeled illustrations and end-of-segment extension activities provide additional opportunities for practice centered on the specific phonogram (“ck,” for instance, or “sh”) highlighted in that section. These stories are geared toward emerging readers who are a bit older than the typical beginning reader and are thoughtfully designed to appeal to this older audience with eye-catching graphics and more-complex situations. This is Book 1 in a series intended for children just learning to read or readers with dyslexia and other learning difficulties, to be shared alongside a more experienced reader. Short explanations and strategies for each new phonogram introduced as well as plenty of helpful tips for using the book to support learning are included. Dyslexia-friendly features are integrated into the book. All characters present as white in the illustrations.
A carefully formatted book with supportive features baked in brings new energy to the task of learning to read. (glossary, tips) (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 6-9)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4598-2490-4
Page Count: 168
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
What a wag.
What do you get from sewing the head of a smart dog onto the body of a tough police officer? A new superhero from the incorrigible creator of Captain Underpants.
Finding a stack of old Dog Mancomics that got them in trouble back in first grade, George and Harold decide to craft a set of new(ish) adventures with (more or less) improved art and spelling. These begin with an origin tale (“A Hero Is Unleashed”), go on to a fiendish attempt to replace the chief of police with a “Robo Chief” and then a temporarily successful scheme to make everyone stupid by erasing all the words from every book (“Book ’Em, Dog Man”), and finish off with a sort of attempted alien invasion evocatively titled “Weenie Wars: The Franks Awaken.” In each, Dog Man squares off against baddies (including superinventor/archnemesis Petey the cat) and saves the day with a clever notion. With occasional pauses for Flip-O-Rama featurettes, the tales are all framed in brightly colored sequential panels with hand-lettered dialogue (“How do you feel, old friend?” “Ruff!”) and narrative. The figures are studiously diverse, with police officers of both genders on view and George, the chief, and several other members of the supporting cast colored in various shades of brown. Pilkey closes as customary with drawing exercises, plus a promise that the canine crusader will be further unleashed in a sequel.
What a wag. (Graphic fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-58160-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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