With some quick fixes, this one could become closer to Real and worthy of a young reader's love. (iPad storybook app. 5-8)
This serviceable iPad version of the classic stumbles, primarily over some fixable mistakes.
XiMAD Inc.'s version of the story, one of two takes on it currently available for the iPad, attempts to be as visually lush and inviting as Williams' tear-jerking text. By that measure, it mostly succeeds. For 31 pages (including the title screen) it's a lovely app, soft but precise, with the kinds of spring-loaded on-screen objects, tilt features and smartly integrated text that Alice for the iPad (2010) set the bar for shortly after the device debuted. But the elegance is lost whenever jarring, ugly pop-up ads appear in the free version of the app, covering the controls and interrupting the story. The ads aren't for other children's books or even toys (velveteen or otherwise); they're primarily for PC utilities unlikely to appeal to this tale's audience. Less forgiveable is a glaring problem late in the story: One paragraph of text is repeated from a prior page, and another paragraph is completely missing, pulling the stuffing out of an important story point. Other than those two major problems and, of lesser importance, a lack of options beyond turning the background music off, this adaptation works. At least it works much better than the Ruckus Mobile Media version in the App Store, a dated, unsatisfying rendition that this one easily bests.
With some quick fixes, this one could become closer to Real and worthy of a young reader's love. (iPad storybook app. 5-8)Pub Date: April 18, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: XIMAD
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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