Playing with scale and prompting readers to think big ensures a quick and entertaining tour to awesome sights.
Minor focuses his attention on the symbolic gourd of fall, juxtaposing national landmarks or record-setting structures with visions of impossibly enormous pumpkins or jack-o’-lanterns.
The title poses a tantalizing question that leads gracefully from the real to the surreal. What follows in each full-bleed spread is a famous site—man-made or natural—painted with watercolor and gouache that majestically captures the impressiveness of the place. He includes in these illustrations an image of a wildly oversized pumpkin. It’s a quirky notion, and it kind of works. Few children would seek out a book on important places to see across the United States. A better bet is a title like this one, which imparts that information while also making them laugh at the sheer humor in the pictures. One image shows the highest roller coaster feeding into the open mouth of a fierce-looking jack-o’-lantern. Another pumpkin innocently stops traffic when it is placed in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge. Yet another smiles up close as a rocket takes off from Cape Canaveral. From Connecticut to California, 14 places are featured. More information about them is provided at the end of the book.
Playing with scale and prompting readers to think big ensures a quick and entertaining tour to awesome sights. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-399-24684-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
This humorous, lively dog’s-eye view provides gentle instruction for interacting with pets.
In Weaver’s charming picture book, a dog reassesses his not-so-glowing review of little kids.
“Families are OVERRATED!” as far as the bluish-gray hound named Dog is concerned. While he approves of the adults in the household, the four small children are for the birds. In an attempt to resolve his conflicted feelings, Dog pours his heart out to a therapist scribbling on a notepad. Dog lists his grievances via couplet rhymes: “And many times I’ve found their dirty toys INSIDE MY BOWL! / It’s obvious these little humans have no SELF-CONTROL!” With key words highlighted in colorful and bolded fonts for more emphasis, his voice now has added urgency. Soylu’s lively drawings in muted tones are wondrously effective in animating Dog; his hanging jowls, big eyes, and floppy ears all convey believably beleaguered expressions. Lifelike details enhance the dramatic effect of the children’s boisterous antics. At the end, Weaver provides a list of do’s and don’ts for interacting with pets. Dog lovers can identify the dog breed silhouettes on the endpapers. Kids will get a kick out of Dog’s opinion of humans and perhaps recognize some behaviors to reconsider.
This humorous, lively dog’s-eye view provides gentle instruction for interacting with pets.Pub Date: July 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781736267370
Page Count: 40
Publisher: A Little Offbeat Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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