A cornucopia of visual textures dresses up a rather obscure story.
How alarming is an incorrect drawing assignment?
It’s “just a normal day” in this forest where cheerful insects live in flowers as tall as trees. The schoolroom, inside a tree, has a blackboard and geometry tools. But when students hand in their assigned homework, a drawing of an elephant, the teacher’s so stunned by Ladybug’s picture that her googly eyes roll around in her head—one eyeball up, one down. “What on earth is that?” Miss Dragonfly exclaims. Ladybug replies: “It’s “a giant ball of fluff.” (It looks more like a nonfluffy black scribble, like a knotted ball of twine.) The nonelephant drawing earns Ladybug various outsized reactions: a medical visit to check her hearing; stunned parents who react by spying on her; strange looks from the entire community. The disproportionate reactions don’t seem to be the joke; the message seems merely that a direct question can clear away confusion. Luckily, Aguirre’s zesty illustrations perk everything up. Hilarious yet harmonious visual juxtapositions abound. Insects live atop leaves and under toadstools, yet they have landlines, sinks for brushing teeth, and, amusingly, potted plants. Tiny, crisp, red autumn leaves thrive next to lush, verdant greens; hazy background tree landscapes glow dimly and gorgeously; a beetle’s bodily stripes are sharp while tree bark and snail shells are soft. Firefly wings are delicate lace. Insects’ faces are blue, green, or beige.
A cornucopia of visual textures dresses up a rather obscure story. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-84-16733-88-0
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: Sept. 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors.
A confused squirrel overreacts to the falling autumn leaves.
Relaxing on a tree branch, Squirrel admires the red, gold, and orange leaves. Suddenly Squirrel screams, “One of my leaves is…MISSING!” Searching for the leaf, Squirrel tells Bird, “Someone stole my leaf!” Spying Mouse sailing in a leaf boat, Squirrel asks if Mouse stole the leaf. Mouse calmly replies in the negative. Bird reminds Squirrel it’s “perfectly normal to lose a leaf or two at this time of year.” Next morning Squirrel panics again, shrieking, “MORE LEAVES HAVE BEEN STOLEN!” Noticing Woodpecker arranging colorful leaves, Squirrel queries, “Are those my leaves?” Woodpecker tells Squirrel, “No.” Again, Bird assures Squirrel that no one’s taking the leaves and that the same thing happened last year, then encourages Squirrel to relax. Too wired to relax despite some yoga and a bath, the next day Squirrel cries “DISASTER” at the sight of bare branches. Frantic now, Squirrel becomes suspicious upon discovering Bird decorating with multicolored leaves. Is Bird the culprit? In response, Bird shows Squirrel the real Leaf Thief: the wind. Squirrel’s wildly dramatic, misguided, and hyperpossessive reaction to a routine seasonal event becomes a rib-tickling farce through clever use of varying type sizes and weights emphasizing his absurd verbal pronouncements as well as exaggerated, comic facial expressions and body language. Bold colors, arresting perspectives, and intense close-ups enhance Squirrel’s histrionics. Endnotes explain the science behind the phenomenon.
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3520-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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