While this low-key adventure can feel a bit long, for some families it may wind up being a favorite—and even inspire some...
Two mice cut from paper come to life and explore a house at night.
Using scissors and a “swirl” of paint, a white-haired woman creates two paper mice for a small child who sits beside her. One, Della, is cut from the cross-hatched inside of a security envelope and the other, Ralph, from a sheet of white paper. Tucked into two different books, they don’t stay put long. When night falls, the two mice begin to roam. Playful language with a cheery rhythm describes their adventures and occasionally reveals their thoughts. Della is delighted to discover a dollhouse (and clothes). Ralph explores the kitchen and sets his sights on a loaf of bread. Once the two mice meet, their enjoyment multiplies. The illustrations are dark, befitting the nighttime setting. Created with both physical (watercolor and cut paper) and digital media, the repeating elements, worn-looking textures, and a limited palette of mostly reds, blues, and purples combine to resemble traditional block printing. There are plenty of details to pore over as the mice explore. Humorous touches include a face-to-face meeting between Della and a rubber duck and a “Cap Caraway” album cover, among others. Like the house pictured, some aspects may seem old-fashioned to young listeners, but grandparents, if not parents, will be charmed. Woman and child present white.
While this low-key adventure can feel a bit long, for some families it may wind up being a favorite—and even inspire some artwork of their own. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 21, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8166-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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