The Anglo rather than Hebrew alphabet is used here as a loose tie-in presenting Jewish-related information on holidays, customs, traditions and certain religious practices. While some letter connections seem sensibly Jewish-oriented—“K is for Kiddush, a prayer over wine / thanking God for giving us the fruit of the vine / L is for latkes fried ’til crisp and yummy / Add applesauce or sour cream and fill up your tummy”—others seem stretched and more generic: “A is for animals, boarding Noah’s Ark / hurrying on two by two before the sky turns dark / B is for bagels baked golden brown / many varieties, all of them round.” In addition to displaying upper- and lower-case letters and extra words for each letter, the author provides explanations for each concept. Mixed-media illustrations incorporate the shape of the letter into the object each represents, and accompany prose and uneven and imperfectly rhymed text. An introductory hodgepodge of information, at best. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-58980-414-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2006
Essentially a follow-up to Robert Kraus’s Leo the Late Bloomer (1971) and like tales of developing competency, this follows an exuberant child from morning wash-up to lights out at night, cataloguing the tasks and skills he has mastered. Activities include dressing himself and joining in school activities, choosing his own books, helping with dinner and other household responsibilities, and taking a bath alone before bedtime. In Aliki’s sunny, simplified pictures, it’s a child’s world, seen from low angles and with adults putting in only occasional appearances. Like the lad, the fitfully rhymed text gallops along, sometimes a little too quickly—many illustrations are matched to just a word or two, so viewers aren’t always given much time to absorb one image before being urged on to the next—but underscoring the story’s bustling energy. Young readers and pre-readers will respond enthusiastically to this child’s proud self-assurance, and be prompted to take stock of their own abilities too. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-028929-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches...
Listeners will quickly take up the percussive chorus—“Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy town! Is the trash truck full yet? NO”—as they follow burly Mr. Gilly, the garbage collector, on his rounds from park to pizza parlor and beyond.
Flinging cans and baskets around with ease, Mr. Gilly dances happily through streetscapes depicted with loud colors and large, blocky shapes; after a climactic visit to the dump, he roars home for a sudsy bath.
Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches Eve Merriam’s Bam Bam Bam (1995), also illustrated by Yaccarino, for sheer verbal and visual volume. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-027139-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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