Readers will be thrilled with the ending—Maizes sets the stage for an encore for Livi, who suddenly sees that baths aren’t...
A young girl reluctant to quit her playing for the “boredom” of the bath imagines all sorts of adventures on her way to the tub.
As a snake, Livi slithers off the couch. Passing her blocks, she pictures the statue she will build. She does a cartwheel, suddenly a fantastic gymnast. Her sister’s music incites an impromptu show. Livi’s guinea pigs remind her that she needs to plan a new caper to take over the world, with their help, of course. And so it continues, all the way to the tub. Meanwhile, speech bubbles on the far–right-hand side of each spread allow readers to track Livi’s mother’s exasperation as she waits for her tyke to finally arrive. The phrases she uses are sure to be familiar to readers. Paraskevas’ brightly colored digital illustrations reveal a plucky girl with lots of personality. Livi may be small, but she knows what she wants, and her determination is to be admired, especially when her real-life skills don’t quite measure up to those of the Livi in her imagination. Pair this one with Christine Anderson and Steven Salerno’s Bedtime! (2005) to see what happens when another child doesn’t stop playing when she is supposed to be getting in the tub.
Readers will be thrilled with the ending—Maizes sets the stage for an encore for Livi, who suddenly sees that baths aren’t so boring after all: “I am a shark…” (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8027-2364-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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