Readers needn’t make time for this one.
No one has time to play with Fifi.
In her tutu and crown, a young raccoon named Fifi tells her dog, Felix, that she needs someone to play with. She asks various family members, but everyone’s too busy. Momma’s fixing the plumbing, Peapaw’s doing yoga, and Daddy’s cooking. Poor Fifi. Felix wants to play fetch, but Fifi has other ideas. She and Felix steal something from each adult and build a Lots-of-Time Machine in the backyard out of boxes and blankets. When she and Felix trick the adults into joining them in the yard, Fifi tells them it costs 10 minutes to enter the machine, where they can play games and read stories together. When Felix accidentally pulls down the machine, Fifi helps Momma and Daddy with their chores while Peapaw builds a new tent for play in the yard. Though the ultimate message is that family time is the best time, readers may wonder why the young protagonist ignores a perfectly good playmate in her puppy, and the Lots-of-Time machine doesn’t really make sense even with toddler logic: It’s unclear why the adults suddenly have time for Fifi or why they aren’t frustrated that she’s taken items that belong to them. The illustrations, rendered in watercolor and digital media, are serviceable, but the oddly football-headed raccoons seem out of place against the backdrops.
Readers needn’t make time for this one. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: July 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781662518584
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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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