Shocked to find herself NOT chosen as the lead in the school play, Olivia must come to terms with her role as Cow Number...
Olivia's roots in theater shine through with her usual panache as she makes her debut onto the iPad stage.
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Shocked to find herself NOT chosen as the lead in the school play, Olivia must come to terms with her role as Cow Number Two. The story is packed with over 30 interactive animations that range from the educational (kids can practice numbers and shapes from cues on the classroom wall) to the irreverently hilarious (they can swing Olivia back and forth over the stage). In one of the dramatic daydream sequences triggered by tapping the cloud over Olivia's head, the screen becomes wavy and they are transported to a grand theater packed with an adoring (and 3D!) audience as she imagines herself in the lead role. Professionally narrated with written text and options to read to oneself or just listen, it does not offer the option to "play" it through, and page turns are difficult as the touch zone seems to be too small for younger readers; otherwise the animations respond well. The musical loop in the background can be turned off for children who need less distraction.Pub Date: June 6, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-41698-571-6
Page Count: -
Publisher: Polin8 Media
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
IN THE NEWS
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
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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BOOK REVIEW
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