illustrated by Quentin Blake & by Russell Hoban ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 17, 1974
Tom liked to fool around. . . . He did low and muddy fooling around and he did high and wobbly fooling around." But "It looks very like playing to me," says his maiden Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong who wears an iron hat and takes no nonsense from anyone, and so she sends for Captain Najork and his hired sportsmen ("They play hard games and they play them jolly hard") to teach Tom a lesson. But even though it's Tom alone against everyone else, he just mucks and fools around and puts them all to shame. And so in the end Captain Najork gets Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong and Tom gets the captain's boat and a new aunt, Bundlejoy Cosysweet, and everyone's happy — including, inevitably, the reader (or better still listener), who might not realize the wisdom but is sure to enjoy the games, their outcome, and Hoban's cadenced, light-as-air sportscasting.
Pub Date: Oct. 17, 1974
ISBN: 1567923224
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1974
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More by Alice Harman
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by Alice Harman ; illustrated by Quentin Blake
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developed by Roald Dahl ; illustrated by Quentin Blake
BOOK REVIEW
developed by Roald Dahl ; illustrated by Quentin Blake
by Josh Schneider & illustrated by Josh Schneider ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2011
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
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More by Josh Schneider
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by Josh Schneider ; illustrated by Josh Schneider
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by Josh Schneider ; illustrated by Josh Schneider
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by Josh Schneider ; illustrated by Josh Schneider
by Arnold Lobel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 3, 1979
The glowing friendship of Frog and Toad continues, with Frog as the wiser, supportive partner easing Toad through his small frustrations and uncertainties. Frog plays the sympathetic sounding board while Toad convinces himself to clean house today and take it easy tomorrow instead of the other way round; he encourages Toad through a fourth and finally successful try at kite flying despite the robins' ridicule; he scares himself and Toad with a shivery ghost story that might or might not have happened to him; and, less admirably perhaps, he shrinks Toad's too-big birthday hat with water while leading his friend to believe that Toad's own big thoughts have enlarged his head. Once more, Lobel leaves the two with their friendship reaffirmed, this time after Toad misinterprets his friend's desire to be alone for a while. As in Frog and Toad All Year (1976) the relationship has settled into a comfortable, conflict-free pattern; but the complementary pair continues to delight and vulnerable Toad to invite sympathetic recognition.
Pub Date: Oct. 3, 1979
ISBN: 081243417X
Page Count: -
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1979
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More by Arnold Lobel
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illustrated by Arnold Lobel
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by Arnold Lobel
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by Arnold Lobel & illustrated by Anita Lobel
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