Coyote in Manhattan = insurrection in Harlem, consternation on Fifth Avenue and headaches for the Board of Health. Dark-skinned daydreamer and "high school freshman-to-be" Tenny Harkness releases him as her "beautiful deed," hoping also to gain entrance to the tightly organized teenage "Street Family." (Rather than appreciating the beauty of the deed, they admire her bravado—but that comes later.) She is immediately suspected by Health Inspector Cardy Evans, who's been warned of the arrival of a germ-carrying coyote, but she doesn't squeal. Tako, the coyote, isn't quite as discreet though he has a preternatural sense of who's on his side and a positive genius for urinanlysis (a waste basket smell is "a message from a pampered and neurotic dog," another sample says the poorch is irritated with its owner). Surveying Central Park (map provided), he is seen (in the formal garden) and heard (howling at a Philharmonic Concert); the searchers close in but Tako has friends besides Tenny: he's the underdog's underdog. He is not, however, an acceptable consort for a champion shepherd and her irate owner Frederick Wortman ("destined to inherit a chain of national hardware stores") points the pursuers toward Tako's den. A last-minute carlift by Tenny and Puerto Rican pal Jose (who gives up a chance to "get away from 109th Street and all the poverty") takes him to the Adirondacks and a new lease on life—a fittingly unlikely ending to a preposterous story.
Pub Date: March 15, 1968
ISBN: 0690219695
Page Count: -
Publisher: T.Y. Crowell
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1968
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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