Absent the romance and magic, fun but slight.
This installment in the new Once Before Time series revisits “Sleeping Beauty,” with all the characters played by dinosaurs.
This pleasant but hardly essential adaptation is loose at best; the dinosaurs are cute and expressive. The wishes bestowed by “fairy friends” upon the protagonist princess, Bronty, are threefold: a long neck, a long tail, and a long life. The final wish comes from a selfish, evil-looking fairy named Rhonda. Rhonda wishes for Bronty to prick her tail on a thorn and fall into a deep sleep, allowing Rhonda to become queen in her stead. The story’s simple declarative statements are easy for little listeners to grasp, though lacking in fairy-tale magic. “Bronty grew up. She had a long neck. She had a long tail. She would be queen soon! / One day Bronty went for a walk. She met a new friend. He did not have a long neck. He did not have a long tail. He did have a lunch basket.” Bronty’s friend, the prince next door, makes a spicy, hiccup-inducing five-bean chili; happily, the chili has no other magical properties. There is a friendship but no love theme; chili and hiccups wake Bronty, not a kiss, medicinal, consensual, or otherwise. Pterapunzel publishes simultaneously; it’s remarkable only for the fact that Pterapunzel saves herself after the witch rashly cuts off her braid and throws it out the window to forestall further visits from the friendly prince.
Absent the romance and magic, fun but slight. (Board book. 1-5)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5248-5571-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A joyful celebration.
Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.
The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.
A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Wonderful, indeed
A love song to baby with delightful illustrations to boot.
Sweet but not saccharine and singsong but not forced, Martin’s text is one that will invite rereadings as it affirms parental wishes for children while admirably keeping child readers at its heart. The lines that read “This is the first time / There’s ever been you, / So I wonder what wonderful things / You will do” capture the essence of the picture book and are accompanied by a diverse group of babies and toddlers clad in downright adorable outfits. Other spreads include older kids, too, and pictures expand on the open text to visually interpret the myriad possibilities and hopes for the depicted children. For example, a spread reading “Will you learn how to fly / To find the best view?” shows a bespectacled, school-aged girl on a swing soaring through an empty white background. This is just one spread in which Martin’s fearless embrace of the white of the page serves her well. Throughout the book, she maintains a keen balance of layout choices, and surprising details—zebras on the wallpaper behind a father cradling his child, a rock-’n’-roll band of mice paralleling the children’s own band called “The Missing Teeth”—add visual interest and gentle humor. An ideal title for the baby-shower gift bag and for any nursery bookshelf or lap-sit storytime.
Wonderful, indeed . (Picture book. 1-4)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37671-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
