Viorst’s tale of two sisters comically captures the vast diversity in personality that can exist between siblings. Olivia, the narrator and older of the two, regales readers with the misadventures of her younger sibling, Sophie. Olivia is neat while Sophie is decidedly not—and therein lies the source of potential discord. Like a seasoned attorney, Olivia presents her case to the reader, offering, albeit unintentionally, one more hilarious tale after another in an attempt to depict Sophie’s haphazard existence. A quintessential pre-adolescent, Olivia’s diatribe is liberally sprinkled with youthful exuberance and exaggeration, containing fine examples of sibling disdain. “No, I’m NOT a rude person. I would never, ever, EVER call Sophie a pig. I’m only saying that PIGS think Sophie’s a pig.” While addressing readers in a chummy, just-between-us manner, Olivia’s tone comes across rather overbearing and superior. Yet here too Viorst has taken a page from real life, for what older sibling doesn’t harbor some feelings of superiority over their hapless younger relations? However, the vivacious Sophie is truly irrepressible, enthusiastically charging forward to embrace life’s offerings, and even Olivia ultimately has to acknowledge her younger sister’s nobler attributes. Finely detailed with a keen comic undertone, Glasser’s drawings are a perfect fit for Viorst’s wry tale. Pen-and-ink drawings come to life with vivid splashes of watercolors, which fill in only certain portions of the illustrations. Brimming with an abundance of visual sallies, these pages are as much fun for readers to examine as to hear. While cleaning fanatics will empathize with Olivia, the rest of the population will be longing to make the lively, free-spirited Sophie their new best friend. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-82941-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
At her best, Rylant’s (The Ticky-Tacky Doll, below, etc.) sweetness and sentiment fills the heart; in this outing, however, sentimentality reigns and the end result is pretty gooey. Pandora keeps a lighthouse: her destiny is to protect ships at sea. She’s lonely, but loves her work. She rescues Seabold and heals his broken leg, and he stays on to mend his shipwrecked boat. This wouldn’t be so bad but Pandora’s a cat and Seabold a dog, although they are anthropomorphized to the max. Then the duo rescue three siblings—mice!—and make a family together, although Rylant is careful to note that Pandora and Seabold each have their own room. Choosing what you love, caring for others, making a family out of love, it is all very well, but this capsizes into silliness. Formatted to look like the start of a new series. Oh, dear. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-84880-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002
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