As a study in European impressions of America, this fascinates; as a representation of New York, it’s more than a little...
A tourist’s view of New York City, from close to the pavement.
The low-slung canine of the title sports an American-flag makeover (with stars on his rump), and he is telling his buddies back in Paris what his trip to New York City was like. The tone is jaunty and casual and just a little satiric: “And check out my new look! So chic, right? I saw it everywhere.” His is a very doggy approach, as he recounts seeing foolish folks running in place (on gym treadmills), without any balls to chase, and others painting one another’s paws (in a nail salon). He is particularly impressed with the dog walkers and marvels at doggy bags. A note indicates Kebbi drew this in colored pencils entirely from his memories of student days in New York City. The images are made in a jittery and lively line and color, as if just dashed off. The crowds are often depicted from the dog’s point of view, the people disproportionately male, when gender is identifiable; one recurrent figure is a Hasid in a long black coat and tall black hat who stands out in the crowd scenes. There is some ethnic diversity, but many of the figures are so generic it is hard to judge.
As a study in European impressions of America, this fascinates; as a representation of New York, it’s more than a little idiosyncratic. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-59270-172-8
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
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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