Fitting in at a new school is never effortless, even in an elementary classroom populated with Boynton’s droll animal characters (adored by legions of preschoolers and their parents in her many bestselling board books). The new kid in school in this upper-level easy reader is a polar bear by the name of Bobby North. He’s the shortest (and most unsure) animal in his class, and he quickly finds out the social rules at his new school: skateboards are a necessity, and a big moose named Harry Haller is the Emperor of Cool. Bobby earnestly works at being cool until one day he achieves a sort of frozen nirvana (and a corresponding epiphany of inner confidence), earning him Harry’s friendship and a place in his rock group. Bobby’s social status climbs until the day he executes a bold flying move off the skateboard ramp at a class party at Harry’s house. Deftly illustrating the maxim that “whatever goes up must come down,” Bobby soars unbelievably high on his board, but then crashes into a hedge, and his popularity crashes as well. The other animals are ready to make Bobby an outsider again, but Harry remains Bobby’s friend in a subtle, satisfying conclusion. McEwan’s catchy text is full of “cool” skateboarding terms and actions that will appeal to boys in the younger grades, but there’s more to this warm-hearted story than just skateboarding moves. The ephemeral nature of popularity and the inherent social strength of those who feel their “inner cool” are unusual sub-themes for an easy reader, but these are lessons we all must learn, usually in ways that are anything but easy. (Easy reader. 6-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-82177-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A close encounter of the best kind.
Left behind when the space bus departs, a child discovers that the moon isn’t as lifeless as it looks.
While the rest of the space-suited class follows the teacher like ducklings, one laggard carrying crayons and a sketchbook sits down to draw our home planet floating overhead, falls asleep, and wakes to see the bus zooming off. The bright yellow bus, the gaggle of playful field-trippers, and even the dull gray boulders strewn over the equally dull gray lunar surface have a rounded solidity suggestive of Plasticine models in Hare’s wordless but cinematic scenes…as do the rubbery, one-eyed, dull gray creatures (think: those stress-busting dolls with ears that pop out when squeezed) that emerge from the regolith. The mutual shock lasts but a moment before the lunarians eagerly grab the proffered crayons to brighten the bland gray setting with silly designs. The creatures dive into the dust when the bus swoops back down but pop up to exchange goodbye waves with the errant child, who turns out to be an olive-skinned kid with a mop of brown hair last seen drawing one of their new friends with the one crayon—gray, of course—left in the box. Body language is expressive enough in this debut outing to make a verbal narrative superfluous.
A close encounter of the best kind. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4253-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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