A hit for dinosaur fans in the toddler set.
Dinos play ball!
In this board-book companion to Wheeler and Gott’s earlier Dino-Sports picture-book series, readers land smack-dab in the middle of an exhilarating baseball game featuring dinosaur characters. The opening pages read “Leather mitts. // Dino-bat. // Cleats on feet. // Baseball hat,” as the illustrations show a play-by-play: a Triceratops on the mound gearing up for a pitch; a hitter (a Baryonyx?) loading the bat, launching a shot, and running the bases; and two outfielders frantically returning the ball to the infield for the out. In this brisk fashion, the face-off between the herbivorous Green Sox and the carnivorous Rib-Eye Reds unfolds. There isn’t room in the brief text to depict a full nine innings, though both teams are shown playing offense and defense. At one point, Gott capitalizes on the sheer size of some dinosaurs by humorously placing what looks to be a towering Apatosaurus in the outfield. Later, this same gentle giant scores a run, delivering what some may see as an unlikely win for the plant-eating Sox. The spare, rhyming text, action-packed narrative, and colorful digital art combine for toddler-friendly fare. What could have read as an awkward switch to the past tense in one instance (“Pitcher throws. // Dino missed. // Try again. // Dino hits!”) is eased by Gott’s visual interpretation showing the baseball in the catcher’s mitt after the small dinosaur up to bat misses it.
A hit for dinosaur fans in the toddler set. (Board book. 0-3)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72844-614-1
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
A sweet reminder that love is best measured in actions.
Even when well-intended plans go awry, sometimes “I love you” is plastered all over one’s face.
Tiny T. Rex wants to make the perfect valentine for friend Pointy, a stegosaurus. It’s a noble ideal, but perfection is more elusive than the little theropod realized. That’s the premise of this charming board book that succinctly celebrates love, friendship, aspiration, perseverance, limitations, and the notion that it’s the thought that counts—especially when it’s clearly reflected in effort. Like its protagonist, this book is small, but it’s rich in value and works on every level. The artwork has an elegant simplicity that beautifully balances color, personality, and clever detail. A panel of Tiny designing the card in chalk on a blackboard, for example, reveals the scale of the little dino’s intentions: a giant heart, ribbons, smaller hearts dangling from springs, heart-shaped balloons, and fireworks, all much larger than Tiny. The project is clearly a labor of love: Tiny sweats, tugging a bucket of paint—“Pointy’s favorite color!”—but the bucket spills on the artist, not the valentine. Trying to make the card “extra fancy,” Tiny is covered in glitter. Tiny rips, snips, and rerips, trying to make the perfect heart; misspells Pointy; and glues springs and hearts all over everything. When Tiny apologizes for having no valentine for Pointy, Pointy recognizes immediately that the perfect valentine is a friend like Tiny.
A sweet reminder that love is best measured in actions. (Board book. 1-5)Pub Date: Dec. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-8489-0
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
SEEN & HEARD
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