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C JUMPED OVER THREE POTS AND A PAN AND LANDED SMACK IN THE GARBAGE CAN

A nifty caper showcasing teamwork, letter recognition, and word formation.

This is a camp crisis and “an alphabet mystery,” but it’s not a typical alphabet book.

When B jumps over a mixing bowl, C knows he can jump farther. But after leaping “over three pots and a pan,” he lands “smack in the garbage can” and can’t get out. D sounds the alarm, and anthropomorphic alphabet characters team up to keep C from being “dumped in the garbage truck.” E (who has three arms) could certainly help, but E is missing, so H and I begin a search. M, “a crackerjack sleuth” with a deerstalker hat and magnifying glass, soon discovers “O, P, and R / have disappeared, too.” U, dressed in a superhero cape, soon cracks the case. “O, P, R, and E / are off making a word”—that turns out to be “just the thing we need for C.” In the end, “a ROPE, some friends, and a fabulous plan / all [rescue] C from the garbage can.” Spot-on rhyme and meter create a fast-moving mystery in which the alphabetical sequence becomes the basis of a charming chain of events leading to C’s rescue. Brightly colored and easily recognizable letters, adorned with facial features and a well-chosen accessory or two, stand out against uncluttered backgrounds of humorous scenes and activities. The setting is a bit uncertain, as the kitchen where C performs his stunt looks more like a suburban home’s than a camp’s, suggesting a day camp, but other scenes imply a sleep-away camp.

A nifty caper showcasing teamwork, letter recognition, and word formation. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-7643-5795-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schiffer

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019

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YOUR BABY'S FIRST WORD WILL BE DADA

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.

A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.

A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: June 9, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015

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HAPPY EASTER FROM THE CRAYONS

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

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