Clearly a labor of love—and just as clearly limited in appeal.
The Nutcracker, but with guinea pigs.
A petite trim size befits the content of this photo-illustrated book (the sixth Guinea Pig Classic), most likely to appeal to the niche market of guinea-pig owners. Text that retells the story of the famous ballet is accompanied by Beresford’s photographs of costumed guinea pigs on small stages set with dollhouse furniture and props (costumes and props courtesy of Newall). As the narrative describes Clara looking at her presents, a photo shows a guinea pig clad in a white dress and blue hair ribbon approaching a tiny, potted Christmas tree. Various incongruities between text and art arise, such as when “the big clock strikes twelve,” with Clara dwarfing a small, sparkly grandfather clock. Later, the Mouse King, described as a “terrifying figure,” looks anything but. It’s odd that the term “fandango” is the only non-English word to receive a footnoted definition; perhaps child readers will have no difficulty negotiating “relevé”? The photos of the costumed guinea pigs aren’t edited to make them appear to dance, which results in rather redundant tableaux of the fluffy creatures, often staring vacantly, sometimes with mouths agape. The backmatter names each guinea pig (including two Dorises), credits the roles they played, and provides background information on the ballet as well as pet rescue centers.
Clearly a labor of love—and just as clearly limited in appeal. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63557-450-0
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
Pedestrian.
Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.
Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
Clever verse coupled with bold primary-colored images is sure to attract and hone the attention of fun-seeking children...
A fizzy yet revealing romp through the toy world.
Though of standard picture-book size, Stein and illustrator Staake’s latest collaboration (Bugs Galore, 2012, etc.) presents a sweeping compendium of diversions for the young. From fairies and gnomes, race cars and jacks, tin cans and socks, to pots ’n’ pans and a cardboard box, Stein combs the toy kingdom for equally thrilling sources of fun. These light, tightly rhymed quatrains focus nicely on the functions characterizing various objects, such as “Floaty, bubbly, / while-you-wash toys” or “Sharing-secrets- / with-tin-cans toys,” rather than flatly stating their names. Such ambiguity at once offers Staake free artistic rein to depict copious items capable of performing those tasks and provides pre-readers ample freedom to draw from the experiences of their own toy chests as they scan Staake’s vibrant spreads brimming with chunky, digitally rendered objects and children at play. The sense of community and sharing suggested by most of the spreads contributes well to Stein’s ultimate theme, which he frames by asking: “But which toy is / the best toy ever? / The one most fun? / Most cool and clever?” Faced with three concluding pages filled with all sorts of indoor and outside toys to choose from, youngsters may be shocked to learn, on turning to the final spread, that the greatest one of all—“a toy SENSATION!”—proves to be “[y]our very own / imagination.”
Clever verse coupled with bold primary-colored images is sure to attract and hone the attention of fun-seeking children everywhere. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6254-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
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