A parable of armaments escalation—from the Snick-Berry Switch to the Big-Boy Boomeroo—whose high-level meaning no child can miss. This anti-nuke message in Seussian terms has one point of difference with such earlier anti-war picturebooks as William Wondriska's The Tomato Patch: it doesn't end in amity, but with the enemy Yooks and Zooks both poised to drop their bombs—and the grandson of the bomb-wielding Yook looking aghast. But, like previous embodiments of the theme, this one reduces the rivalry to a petty, nonsensical difference—the titular Butter Battle. Yooks, that is, spread their bread with the butter side up; Zooks, with the butter side down. (A perverse notion, the pictures demonstrate.) The actual weapons escalation involves some wild Seussian creations and some characteristic manic glee. Says Zook-rep VanItch (note the name): "My wonderful weapon, the Jigger-Rock Snatchem, will fling 'em right back as quick as we catch 'em./We'll have no more nonsense./We'll take no more gupp/from you Yooks who eat bread with the butter side up!" But in the aftermath of wide exposure to The Day After and other 1980s arousals, all this seems, however well-intended, a little simplistic, a little out-of-date, even a little out-of-keeping.
Pub Date: Feb. 12, 1984
ISBN: 0394965809
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1984
BOOK REVIEW
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
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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