Mr. and Mrs. Castle and three small Castles ("more like Cottages, really") live in a white house with a big lawn. Their lives change a bit when Mrs. Castle, an atomic scientist, finds a job helping to develop "an electronic medicine to cure sunspots." Amiable Mr. Castle becomes an efficient househusband. In his baggy sweater, he accomplishes a great deal. Between cups of tea—the Castles are distinctly British—he bakes bread and cake, plants cabbages and hangs the dishes on the clothesline to dry. But Mr. Castle's work really begins when ripe plums start dropping from a tree in the yard. Thrilled at the prospect of another project, Mr. Castle makes plum jam one day. . .and the following day, and the day after that. Finally every container in the house—vases, glasses, even the teapot—are filled with jam. Besides serving the delicacy at every meal, clever Mr. Castle fixes the leaking roof with it and uses it to restick the bathroom tiles. Not surprisingly, images of the omnipresent substance begin to creep into the dreams of every member of the jam-weary family. And—not surprisingly—all of the Castles have begun to grow quite round from their overindulgence. So Mr. Castle suggests a "game on the lawn" to get some exercise. As they play, he hears a soft thud on the roof. This can only mean one thing, and the last page confirms the reader's suspicions: on it is a picture of a very full plum tree, a pleased Mr. Castle and a worried baby Castle. "The plums were ripe again." Mahy and Craig make a smashing team. The colorful, detailed drawings convey the same humor and high spirits as the text. And for anyone whose appetite is whetted by the story, a recipe for plum jam appears on the endpapers.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1985
ISBN: 0749708859
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1985
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
