Informative, entertaining, and upbeat.
A framework of cultural understanding and fragile food systems surrounds an optimistic story about trying new things.
William, his sister, Harper, and their dad, all of whom are light-skinned, head into the Butterfly Pavilion, noting a cheerful sign stating “Entomophagy: Featuring a Bug Buffet!” Uncluttered illustrations balance neutral or muted backgrounds with pops of color for the insects introduced, such as the rusty red Madagascar hissing cockroach and the blue morpho butterfly. Younger-seeming Harper is eager to try munching on insects, while William is tentative despite his enthusiasm for observing insects, leaving room for kids with differing opinions about snacking on insects to find an anchor perspective in the story. When a light-skinned guest speaker asks if anyone visiting the event has eaten bugs, several people answer affirmatively, including William’s father—a quick way to normalize the practice. Facts about how 80% of the world’s people include insects in their diets may boggle readers’ minds while encouraging curiosity and understanding. The speaker finds a way to reach pensive William by offering a familiar cookie treat made with cricket flour. While spreads are text-heavy, the story flows. The balanced combination of information, emotional processing, and a simple plot allows easy entry for many who find entomophagy novel. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Informative, entertaining, and upbeat. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8075-1143-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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