This Math Start title entwines the basic geometry concept of area, with an engaging family story of sibling rivalry. Jenny and Jeff argue about everything. When the family moves to a new house, each child selects a bedroom, and then they argue about which room is best: “ ‘Ha! I told you my room is better,’ Jenny said. ‘Look how big my window is.’ ‘I’ve got a window too,’ said Jeff. ‘Bet mine is bigger.’ ” Since one window is long and narrow and the other is a square, it’s not easy to tell which is bigger. Long-suffering mom encourages them to solve the problem mathematically, suggesting they cover each window with sheets of paper and count the sheets to determine which window is bigger. When they discover the windows are the same size, though one window is four rows of three and the other two rows of six, they next argue about the size of the rooms. Now dad helps, suggesting they measure the area of each room with newspaper. Once again they measure to a draw. Parents and teachers will be relieved these argumentative kids are fictional, but they are an excellent vehicle for practical math concepts. The author concludes with follow-up for parents and children, suggesting additional activities and a short booklist. Sprightly pen-and-wash illustrations show a tag and tumble family with enough spunk and sass to keep them from becoming saccharine. Nicely done. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-06-028918-X
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your dreads! Isadora once again plies her hand using colorful, textured collages to depict her fourth fairy tale relocated to Africa. The narrative follows the basic story line: Taken by an evil sorceress at birth, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower; Rapunzel and the prince “get married” in the tower and she gets pregnant. The sorceress cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and tricks the prince, who throws himself from the tower and is blinded by thorns. The terse ending states: “The prince led Rapunzel and their twins to his kingdom, where they were received with great joy and lived happily every after.” Facial features, clothing, dreadlocks, vultures and the prince riding a zebra convey a generic African setting, but at times, the mixture of patterns and textures obfuscates the scenes. The textile and grain characteristic of the hewn art lacks the elegant romance of Zelinksy’s Caldecott version. Not a first purchase, but useful in comparing renditions to incorporate a multicultural aspect. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-24772-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the...
An all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades.
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the streets in the time-honored stiff-armed, stiff-legged fashion. McDonald signals her intent on page one: “Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie’s eye fell off and rolled across the floor.” The farce is as broad as the Atlantic, with enough spookiness just below the surface to provide the all-important shivers. Accompanied by Reynolds’ drawings—dozens of scene-setting gems with good, creepy living dead—McDonald shapes chapters around zombie motifs: making zombie costumes, eating zombie fare at school, reading zombie books each other to reach the one-million-minutes-of-reading challenge. When the zombie walk happens, it delivers solid zombie awfulness. McDonald’s feel-good tone is deeply encouraging for readers to get up and do this for themselves because it looks like so much darned fun, while the sub-message—that reading grows “strong hearts and minds,” as well as teeth and bones—is enough of a vital interest to the story line to be taken at face value.Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5692-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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