An uneven, ambitious effort.
A narrator introduces readers to Neel, who, for every day of the week, makes a decision to better himself, then falls short—with good reason, as Neel himself explains in nonsense verse.
The framework is clever, starting with the narrator providing the premise. What follows is a daily reckoning. Each day of the week is given a full spread, with the day appearing on the verso and a question or accusation from a teacher, parent or other unnamed authority figure on the recto. Turn the page, and youngsters will delight in Neel’s fantastic excuses. For example, on Wednesday, the voice proclaims, “Where’s the bread? / You brought a dog instead?” Neel hypothesizes that the dog hypnotized him: “I don’t know how I got back here, / and so, therefore, you see, / I didn’t bring the dog back home— / He brought me.” The rhythm sometimes stumbles, but the situations are recognizable—except for those that are so farfetched they will inspire admiration, such as when Neel shows up without socks, claiming he stuffed them into a panicked elephant’s ears. The illustrations, a collage of tinted photographs and art, provide an appropriately surreal backdrop. Unfortunately, the placement of text, the use of amorphous figures and the amount of blank space on some pages disrupt the flow and may leave readers feeling disengaged.
An uneven, ambitious effort. (Picture book/poetry. 5-9)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-93-80340-12-8
Page Count: 46
Publisher: Tara Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the...
An all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades.
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the streets in the time-honored stiff-armed, stiff-legged fashion. McDonald signals her intent on page one: “Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie’s eye fell off and rolled across the floor.” The farce is as broad as the Atlantic, with enough spookiness just below the surface to provide the all-important shivers. Accompanied by Reynolds’ drawings—dozens of scene-setting gems with good, creepy living dead—McDonald shapes chapters around zombie motifs: making zombie costumes, eating zombie fare at school, reading zombie books each other to reach the one-million-minutes-of-reading challenge. When the zombie walk happens, it delivers solid zombie awfulness. McDonald’s feel-good tone is deeply encouraging for readers to get up and do this for themselves because it looks like so much darned fun, while the sub-message—that reading grows “strong hearts and minds,” as well as teeth and bones—is enough of a vital interest to the story line to be taken at face value.Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5692-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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