Recalcitrant youngsters will recognize themselves in Grindley’s (No Trouble At All, p. 882, etc.) hard-to-please hero (“Head pulled down, shoulders hunched up, toes curled in, Boris the vulture was sulking”) and catch on quickly to Grindley’s predictable story structure. “What’s the matter, Boris?” asks each of his friends before attempting to cheer him up. Terry’s (Rhino’s Horns, 2001, etc.) full-bleed illustrations convey Boris’s subtle mood changes. For example, Boris’s meeting with Marvin the monkey is expressed in a trio of vignettes as the young vulture moves from excitement to fear as he rides a swing. The double-page spread that follows depicts Boris down in the dumps; he’s fallen off the swing and skinned his head. “Can I have a cuddle?” he asks his mother. Unfortunately, Terry’s illustration doesn’t convey the slightest bit of tenderness, even though it’s implied in Grindley’s text. Boris looks just as sour as he was in the beginning and his parents appear angry and cold. The incongruity is confusing; by the end of this story, readers will likely be just as sulky as Boris. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-58234-794-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2002
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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