This may not have the laugh-out-loud humor or silly sweetness found in many titles of this kind, but Gus has great appeal,...
Should Fly Guy, Elephant and Piggie, Biscuit and Puppy Mudge make room in the growing field of very beginning readers for Gus? Maybe…
In this third book about Gus (Gus Gets Scared and Gus Makes a Friend, both 2011), newly emergent readers can practice recognizing sight words, playing with inflection and mastering repeated vocabulary all while discovering how this pleasant rhino prepares for a special day. Though the simple sentence structure contains only single-syllable words, the colorful cartoon art cues young readers and cleverly augments the text. Remkiewicz, well known for illustrating the Froggy series, proves from the first page that this is no typical day-at-school title. While the text reads “Gus goes to school,” the framed page shows daddy rhino and Gus passing a florist's shop with a huge sign that proclaims “Mom’s Day.” Tension arises during craft time when Gus and a spunky blue elephant compete for creating the most impressive bead necklace: “ ‘See my beads!’ says Tess. / ‘See MY beads!’ says Gus. / ‘NOW see my beads!’ says Tess. / ‘Now see MY beads!’ says Gus.” The page turn reveals an “Oops!” as all but one of Gus’s beads spill to the floor. No need to worry—Mom loves it.
This may not have the laugh-out-loud humor or silly sweetness found in many titles of this kind, but Gus has great appeal, and the story provides just the right level of challenges for those just beginning to read. (Early reader. 4-6)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-24469-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
As ephemeral as a valentine.
Daywalt and Jeffers’ wandering crayons explore love.
Each double-page spread offers readers a vision of one of the anthropomorphic crayons on the left along with the statement “Love is [color].” The word love is represented by a small heart in the appropriate color. Opposite, childlike crayon drawings explain how that color represents love. So, readers learn, “love is green. / Because love is helpful.” The accompanying crayon drawing depicts two alligators, one holding a recycling bin and the other tossing a plastic cup into it, offering readers two ways of understanding green. Some statements are thought-provoking: “Love is white. / Because sometimes love is hard to see,” reaches beyond the immediate image of a cat’s yellow eyes, pink nose, and black mouth and whiskers, its white face and body indistinguishable from the paper it’s drawn on, to prompt real questions. “Love is brown. / Because sometimes love stinks,” on the other hand, depicted by a brown bear standing next to a brown, squiggly turd, may provoke giggles but is fundamentally a cheap laugh. Some of the color assignments have a distinctly arbitrary feel: Why is purple associated with the imagination and pink with silliness? Fans of The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) hoping for more clever, metaliterary fun will be disappointed by this rather syrupy read.
As ephemeral as a valentine. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-9268-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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