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WHAT SHIP IS NOT A SHIP?

Name: WHAT SHIP IS NOT A SHIP?
Author: Harriet Ziefert
ISBN: 978-1-60905-447-2

by Harriet Ziefert ; illustrated by Josée Masse ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 9, 2014

The prolific Ziefert has provided a game that everyone can play.

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Wordplay forms the basis for an intriguing guessing game as trios of similar things are followed by something different.

For very young readers and listeners who enjoy naming objects in pictures, this offers an interesting further step that will also challenge older brothers and sisters. Panda bears, brown bears and polar bears are all bears. “What bear is NOT a bear?” Turn the page to see a woolly bear caterpillar. Each pair of pages includes a similar question and answer as well as dictionary-style definitions of the puzzle words and answer. Just as the pattern begins to seem repetitious, there is a variation, just a question followed by the answer on a double-page spread. And so forth. The final, title spread is predictable: children demonstrating friendship. While some sets are easy, others may surprise even adults. “A hi-hat [cymbal] is NOT a hat!” Further puzzles are offered in a two-page conclusion; answers will be found on the publisher's website. Warning! This could become addictive. Masse’s stylized paintings include recognizable objects, a diverse collection of children and some appealing details (note the snowman outside the cutaway house and the cat on the bookcase).

The prolific Ziefert has provided a game that everyone can play. (Picture book. 4-9)

Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-60905-447-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Blue Apple

Review Posted Online: July 21, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
IS A BOOK A BOX FOR WORDS?
by Harriet Ziefert ; illustrated by Mercè Galí

- BOOK REVIEW
BE THANKFUL FOR WATER
by Harriet Ziefert ; illustrated by Brian Fitzgerald

- BOOK REVIEW
I REALLY WANT TO BE FIRST!
by Harriet Ziefert ; illustrated by Travis Foster

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LITTLE DAYMOND LEARNS TO EARN

by Daymond John ; illustrated by Nicole Miles ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2023

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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THE DAY THE CRAYONS MADE FRIENDS

by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 3, 2025

Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees.

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After Duncan finds his crayons gone—yet again—letters arrive, detailing their adventures in friendship.

Eleven crayons send missives from their chosen spots throughout Duncan’s home (and one from his classroom). Red enjoys the thrill of extinguishing “pretend fires” with Duncan’s toy firetruck. White, so often dismissed as invisible, finds a new calling subbing in for the missing queen on the black-and-white chessboard. “Now everyone ALWAYS SEES ME!…(Well, half the time!)” Pink’s living the dream as a pastry chef helming the Breezy Bake Oven, “baking everything from little cupcakes…to…OTHER little cupcakes!” Teal, who’s hitched a ride to school in Duncan’s backpack, meets the crayons in the boy’s desk and writes, “Guess what? I HAVE A TWIN! How come you never told me?” Duncan wants to see his crayons and “meet their new friends.” A culminating dinner party assembles the crayons and their many guests: a table tennis ball, dog biscuits, a well-loved teddy bear, and more. The premise—personified crayons, away and back again—is well-trammeled territory by now, after over a dozen books and spinoffs, and Jeffers once more delivers his signature cartooning and hand-lettering. Though the pages lack the laugh-out-loud sight gags and side-splittingly funny asides of previous outings, readers—especially fans of the crayons’ previous outings—will enjoy checking in on their pals.

Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees. (Picture book. 4-7)