While they may not be the most conventional family, “The Swamp Snakes” do have their traditions. Every night, no matter what, Austin’s father tells him a story before bed; by day, the family performs in front of big crowds in small towns across the country (“Dad played fiddle, Mom sang country-western, and Austin banged the tambourine”). But when they stay in Uncle Roy’s two-story house in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a misunderstanding rewrites the bedtime ritual in Brutschy’s (Celeste and Crabapple Sam, o.p., etc.) clever effort. In an energetic watercolor vignette, Smith (No More Nasty, 2001, etc.) portrays Austin jumping on the bed demanding two bedtime stories. “ ‘Hey, you know the rules,’ [says] Dad. ‘Just one story at bedtime.’ ” “ ‘But . . . this is a two-story house,’ ” says Austin. On the next page, the full-bleed illustration shows Austin peering down a darkened staircase while his father explains what a two-story house really means. But he indulges Austin anyway; after all, it’s not often that they spend a night away from their tiny trailer. It will be back to normal the next night. But when the family wins a fiddling contest, they decide to splurge by staying in an 11-story hotel. Young readers will easily predict the outcome: the final spread shows Austin asleep in bed with 11 story bubbles floating above his head. Brutschy makes this unusual family seem familiar; and in a welcome change of pace, Smith portrays the family with brown skin and dark hair. While it’s open to interpretation, the family appears to be Hispanic. All in all, it’s a good yarn and a nice addition to multicultural collections. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-439-31767-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pedestrian.
Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.
Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
The can’t-miss subject of this Step into Reading series entry—a unicorn with a magic horn who also longs for wings—trumps its text, which is dry even by easy-reader standards. A boy unicorn, whose horn has healing powers, reveals his wish to a butterfly in a castle garden, a bluebird in the forest and a snowy white swan in a pond. Falling asleep at the edge of the sea, the unicorn is visited by a winged white mare. He heals her broken wing and she flies away. After sadly invoking his wish once more, he sees his reflection: “He had big white wings!” He flies off after the mare, because he “wanted to say, ‘Thank you.’ ” Perfectly suiting this confection, Silin-Palmer’s pictures teem with the mass market–fueled iconography of what little girls are (ostensibly) made of: rainbows, flowers, twinkly stars and, of course, manes down to there. (Easy reader. 4-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83117-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
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