A unique mashup of biology and super-abundant whimsy that will charm fans of the strange and unusual.
In this Swedish import, an intrepid narrator undertakes a journey through the human body.
Accompanied by a reptilian cook, a diminutive doctor in a hooded white jumpsuit, and an “old lady,” the explorer recounts travels from an initial camp to eventual points north. Accompanied by various guides, they paddle by boat across the stomach’s rivers, then through the small intestine’s tunnels of emerald green water. The microvilli there are characterized as a dense forest of trees dipping down to drink. The party waits in the appendix for a train that takes them to the lungs, where a great windstorm results in the doctor breaking a leg. (He and their ill guide eventually depart early.) Horses transport the group over the “Endless Muscle Mountains,” through pulsing nerve forests. Exiting the circulatory system’s red river, they reach the heart, its beats thunderous. The group scales the perilous skeletal system. (There, everyone receives mail!) After their final camp at an eye, the lady and the cook decide to depart, leaving only the narrator to discover the wonders of the brain. Bartilsson’s amusing, intricate illustrations amplify the journey’s surreal, preposterous nature; some will be perplexed, but others will be delighted. Muscles are stylized, sinewy red and black undulations, while the brain, far from the explorer’s expectations of “legendary gray meadows,” pulses colorfully with…well, everything under the sun. Most humans are light-skinned; some characters appear more fancifully hued.
A unique mashup of biology and super-abundant whimsy that will charm fans of the strange and unusual. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 15, 2025
ISBN: 9798893380019
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Transit Children's Editions
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, if oft-told, story.
A plush toy rabbit bonds with a boy and watches him grow into adulthood.
The boy receives the blue bunny for his birthday and immediately becomes attached to it. Unbeknownst to him, the ungendered bunny is sentient; it engages in dialogue with fellow toys, giving readers insight into its thoughts. The bunny's goal is to have grand adventures when the boy grows up and no longer needs its company. The boy spends many years playing imaginatively with the bunny, holding it close during both joyous and sorrowful times and taking it along on family trips. As a young man, he marries, starts a family, and hands over the beloved toy to his toddler-aged child in a crib. The bunny's epiphany—that he does not need to wait for great adventures since all his dreams have already come true in the boy's company—is explicitly stated in the lengthy text, which is in many ways similar to The Velveteen Rabbit (1922). The illustrations, which look hand-painted but were digitally created, are moderately sentimental with an impressionistic dreaminess (one illustration even includes a bunny-shaped cloud in the sky) and a warm glow throughout. The depiction of a teenage male openly displaying his emotions—hugging his beloved childhood toy for example—is refreshing. All human characters present as White expect for one of the boy’s friends who is Black.
A sweet, if oft-told, story. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72825-448-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
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