Good concept and visuals but not totally worth howling about.
A modern “Little Red Riding Hood” with a twist.
Distracted by the device in her hand, Little Red heads down the dangerous fork to her grandmother’s home. She wanders into the Wolf-Filled Woods, where wolves—of every “type, shape, and size”—hungrily lurk along the path. Eyes still glued to her smartphone, Red doesn’t see a single one. That is, until the “biggest and baddest” wolf emerges from behind a tree. Red throws her phone. She trembles, shivers, and even plays dead until she gets the “bright, helpful thought” to stand up to the wolf instead. She warns the wolf of a nearby werewolf that will gobble him up. The wolf is skeptical, but he asks Red whether each wolf in the forest—from square (-shaped) wolf to barely there wolf—is the loup garou in question. Soon, the full moon is in sight and—surprise!—Red transforms into the werewolf. Hunt’s colorful, eye-catching cartoon illustrations are filled with whimsical background details. The staging and facial expressions give the proceedings an animated-movie feel. Sullivan’s clever concept effectively flips the script on the classic tale. While the memorable twist itself is up to par with the one in Mo Willems’ That Is Not a Good Idea (2013), the preachy ending and often forced rhyming couplets cheapen the fun of this otherwise vibrant tale. Red and her grandmother have light-brown skin. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Good concept and visuals but not totally worth howling about. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-948931-27-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hazy Dell Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...
Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.
The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-934133-57-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Mackinac Island Press
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
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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