Check that tongue is firmly in cheek before following these dedicated do-gooders into battle against a truly “repellant” foe.
A diminutive costumed superhero and friends defend the town of MegaCityVille from the thoroughly irritating Mosquito Man in this French import, one of a quartet.
Mega Mouse may be small, but she’s “very, very, very strong.” This comes in handy when Mosquito Man—hardly more than a dot in the simple cartoon illustrations but thrillingly introduced here and also in three co-published companions as “the Big Wicked Mosquito thirsty for blood”—blows up a bridge in front of a bus full of children squired by Mega Pig. “Thank you, Mega Mouse!” says the portly paladin after a dramatic save. “No problem, Mega Pig,” says she. “We’re still on for tonight?” Along with being miscast as male, the resilient Mosquito Man is likewise crushed, but flies off vowing revenge, after splattering Mega Pig with ketchup, being driven away by Mega Wolf after ambushing Little Red Riding Hood, and stranding Tom Thumb on the moon for Mega Bunny to rescue. Each of the four superheroes comes with a distinctive character and lifestyle (Mega Wolf enjoys flexing in front of the mirror and “pleasing the chicks”—literally), and each has a foible that is revealed at the end with an entreaty to readers to keep it quiet: Mega Bunny needs a night light, for instance, and Mega Pig likes to spoon jam straight out of the jar. Sacre bleu!
Check that tongue is firmly in cheek before following these dedicated do-gooders into battle against a truly “repellant” foe. (map) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-77085-639-4
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Firefly
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor
Having surveyed worms, spiders, flies, and head lice, Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series with a quick hop through toad fact and fancy.
The facts are briefly presented in a hand-lettered–style typeface frequently interrupted by visually emphatic interjections (“TOXIN,” “PREY,” “EWWW!”). These are, as usual, paired to simply drawn cartoons with comments and punch lines in dialogue balloons. After casting glances at the common South American ancestor of frogs and toads, and at such exotic species as the Emei mustache toad (“Hey ladies!”), Gravel focuses on the common toad, Bufo bufo. Using feminine pronouns throughout, she describes diet and egg-laying, defense mechanisms, “warts,” development from tadpole to adult, and of course how toads shed and eat their skins. Noting that global warming and habitat destruction have rendered some species endangered or extinct, she closes with a plea and, harking back to those South American origins, an image of an outsized toad, arm in arm with a dark-skinned lad (in a track suit), waving goodbye: “Hasta la vista!”
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor . (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77049-667-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
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