Yer pirate-lovin’ tender-aged readers will give Pirate Jack a thumbs-up, but they won’t find many surprises, and disability...
A bold, black-bearded pirate gets dressed for the day, describing each item of his pirate garb by color in rollicking, rhyming text.
Jack the pirate awakens at 6 sharp wearing his gray long johns, which serve as both pajamas and the first layer of his costume. He adds a black eye patch (though he appears to have two intact eyeballs), gold earrings, a silver prosthetic hook on one hand, and clothes of many colors on following pages. His outfit includes a brown boot on one leg and a wooden peg on the other. Pirate Jack, who has golden-tan skin, meets his racially diverse “motley crew,” which includes two women pirates. One of the women has a peg leg and the other has a prosthetic hook. As with most children’s books with a pirate theme, these piratical tropes disregard concerns about disability awareness and sensitivity. The rhyming text is spunky and humorous, filled with familiar pirate lingo such as “matey,” “aye, aye,” and “me” and “ye” for “my” and “you.” Computer-generated illustrations use bright, saturated colors and an oversized landscape format with double-page spreads that provide lots of room for amusing details in Jack’s well-furnished stateroom aboard ship. A tiny mouse character with a teeny-tiny eye patch is hidden somewhere within each spread.
Yer pirate-lovin’ tender-aged readers will give Pirate Jack a thumbs-up, but they won’t find many surprises, and disability advocates will find the same old, same old. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7664-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Let these crayons go back into their box.
The Crayons return to celebrate Easter.
Six crayons (Red, Orange, Yellow, Esteban, who is green and wears a yellow cape, White, and Blue) each take a shape and scribble designs on it. Purple, perplexed and almost angry, keeps asking why no one is creating an egg, but the six friends have a great idea. They take the circle decorated with red shapes, the square adorned with orange squiggles “the color of the sun,” the triangle with yellow designs, also “the color of the sun” (a bit repetitious), a rectangle with green wavy lines, a white star, about which Purple remarks: “DID you even color it?” and a rhombus covered with blue markings and slap the shapes onto a big, light-brown egg. Then the conversation turns to hiding the large object in plain sight. The joke doesn’t really work, the shapes are not clear enough for a concept book, and though colors are delineated, it’s not a very original color book. There’s a bit of clever repartee. When Purple observe that Esteban’s green rectangle isn’t an egg, Esteban responds, “No, but MY GOSH LOOK how magnificent it is!” Still, that won’t save this lackluster book, which barely scratches the surface of Easter, whether secular or religious. The multimedia illustrations, done in the same style as the other series entries, are always fun, but perhaps it’s time to retire these anthropomorphic coloring implements. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Let these crayons go back into their box. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-62105-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Formulaic fare that will nevertheless charm devoted followers.
A few familiar friends explore gratitude.
Daywalt’s crayons have observed many holidays, from Christmas to Earth Day. On Thanksgiving, these anthropomorphic school supplies wax (pun intended) poetic about their favorite things to draw. “Blue is thankful for blueberries.” (The accompanying illustration depicts the stubby crayon leaping into a pile of the fruit.) Black, on a page topped by dark scribbles, “is thankful for night skies.” In an aside, Black adds, “Big, beautiful night skies I get to color in all by myself!” (Blue is perfectly fine with this.) Pink pipes up with “Three glorious words. Amazon. River. Dolphins”—which may spur readers to research these creatures. The tale turns a bit meta, too. Teal is thankful for family—both Blue and Green. Red, surrounded by hearts, is thankful for Neon Green Highlighter, who was accidentally dropped into the crayon box—a “dreamboat” for sure. Recognizable jokes from previous works make appearances; these callbacks will delight staunch fans, though others will find them tiring. Standard cheer and platitudes abound; the crayons are ultimately most grateful for each other.
Formulaic fare that will nevertheless charm devoted followers. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780593690574
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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