Czekaj’s tale radiates good cheer, in both its snappy dialogue and its vitalizing artwork, and effectively counsels that...
Hip and Hop (Hip & Hop, Don't Stop!, 2010) return to put some positive vibes into the life of a Mr. Negativo.
Czekaj’s rap duo has taken the show on the road for the summer. They have wowed the crowds all across Oldskool County with their blend of jazzy and languorous rapping. Hip, being a turtle, rhymes to his own relaxed beat, while Hop, a rabbit, puts a little zip into her phrasings, and readers are encouraged to follow suit. The raps have the kind of engaging splash that ought to get those same readers into the mix, maybe throwing down a few of their own lines to go with “We’re leaping frogs / and chilling on logs,” and “We’re holding our breath, / while still looking def.” But one of the book’s characters, Yaul the porcupine, isn’t impressed. Actually, Yaul isn’t impressed by anything: not rainbows or butterflies, not stylish mittens, fuzzy kittens, carrots or parrots. It takes an itchy sweater to turn Yaul’s head around—to learn that he can chill enough to get excited about the world around him (maybe not sewer grates, admittedly)—which is appropriately out of left field to go along with the rest of the story.
Czekaj’s tale radiates good cheer, in both its snappy dialogue and its vitalizing artwork, and effectively counsels that involvement is one of the keys to living. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4231-4682-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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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