A floppy toy leaning against a rain-streaked window...a little boy gazing out the window...a dismal, deserted city street...One Monday morning (turn page quickly) the king (carrying an umbrella), the queen, and the little prince (in procession) came to visit me. But I wasn't home. (I was waiting at the bus stop) So the little prince said, "In that case we shall return on Tuesday." On Tuesday morning the procession was joined by the knight, But I wasn't home (I was on the subway). Each day the procession grew longer and larger and more splendid on arrival and more disheartened on departure, until... On Sunday morning the king, the queen, the little prince, the knight, a royal guard, the royal cook, the royal barber, the royal jester, and a little dog came to visit me. And I was home. So the little prince said. "We just dropped in to say hello." The little boy examining a deck of playing cards...the floppy toy, looking very like the royal barber, leaning against the sun-filled window.... The magnificence of the royal personages, expressively outlined and colored in the acid shades of old playing cards, contrasts with the muted tones of the tenement and the street. One single surprise—but the child can enjoy the visit again and again just by turning the pages and repeating the refrain.
Pub Date: March 28, 1967
ISBN: 0374456488
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1967
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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