Readers will love the illustrations, but they might also feel cheated by the premise—disappointing.
So many choices in a seemingly simple day!
“What will Danny wear today?” Colorful socks pour out of his dresser, and the open wardrobe offers a rainbow of colors and patterns and styles. And so goes the day. Every double-page spread of options is dense with lively figures and raucous color. Will the brown-haired white boy choose a “crunchy, chewy, or wobbly” breakfast? What will he drink? He can pedal, skip, walk, ride, or zip to school, and what will he learn there? Painting…playing the piano...rocket building? Who will teach Danny today: the turbaned Sikh, the green ET with five eyes, Shakespeare? During physical education, will he “run, jump, or hit balls?” And at recess, “slide, swing, or seesaw?” What will he do for his after-school art activity? What will he do with his dad after that? At the end of the long day, which book will he choose? And here the book at last provides an answer: the very one readers are holding! Goodhart presents copious choices but (except for the end) never reveals what Danny has chosen. The cover’s claim that readers get to “decide” what Danny does is plain false. But Usher’s shaggy, busy illustrations, bristling with visual foolishness and populated by a multiracial cast, are a delight.
Readers will love the illustrations, but they might also feel cheated by the premise—disappointing. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61067-512-3
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree.
A Christmas edition of the beloved alphabet book.
The story starts off nearly identically to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989), written by John Archambault and the late Bill Martin Jr, with the letters A, B, and C deciding to meet in the branches of a tree. This time, they’re attempting to scale a Christmas tree, not a coconut tree, and the letters are strung together like garland. A, B, and C are joined by the other letters, and of course they all “slip, slop, topple, plop!” right down the tree. At the bottom, they discover an assortment of gifts, all in a variety of shapes. As a team, the letters and presents organize themselves to get back up on the Christmas tree and get a star to the top. Holiday iterations of favorite tales often fall flat, but this take succeeds. The gifts are an easy way to reinforce another preschool concept—shapes—and the text uses just enough of the original to be familiar. The rhyming works, sticking to the cadence of the source material. The illustrations pay homage to the late Lois Ehlert’s, featuring the same bold block letters, though they lack some of the whimsy and personality of the original. Otherwise, everything is similarly brightly colored and simply drawn. Those familiar with the classic will be drawn to this one, but newcomers can enjoy it on its own.
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665954761
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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