Readers captivated by the understated silliness of the premise may find themselves imagining what their own neighborhoods...
Geisert, known for his intricate etchings that often feature profusions of pigs, here turns to pumpkins, offering a meditation on the effects of one astonishingly fertile runaway pumpkin on a small Iowa town.
It all begins when a pumpkin is washed away from a farm to a small island in the middle of a river near a bridge. It breaks; its seeds sprout; vines soon stretch from the island to downtown via that bridge. In a sequence of expansive double-page spreads, Geisert depicts the overrunning of Main Street by the pumpkin’s progeny, the orange gourds improbably popping up everywhere. “People did fun things with the pumpkins. Sometimes, even dangerous things.” People throw pumpkins, do acrobatics and dance with them. And of course they build medieval siege weapons. Ultimately, after a gentle pumpkin chaos reigns for several page turns, the townspeople (all seemingly white) carve them into jack-o-lanterns and range them all up and down Main Street, their faces glowing long into the night. Geisert’s spreads offer readers detail upon whimsical detail, including a witch who walks calmly about and much rooftop tomfoolery. The text and art are occasionally out of sync, and, truthfully, there isn’t much plot—but there are many pumpkins to count.
Readers captivated by the understated silliness of the premise may find themselves imagining what their own neighborhoods might look like under similar circumstances . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-59270-265-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of...
An international story tackles a serious global issue with Reynolds’ characteristic visual whimsy.
Gie Gie—aka Princess Gie Gie—lives with her parents in Burkina Faso. In her kingdom under “the African sky, so wild and so close,” she can tame wild dogs with her song and make grass sway, but despite grand attempts, she can neither bring the water closer to home nor make it clean. French words such as “maintenant!” (now!) and “maman” (mother) and local color like the karite tree and shea nuts place the story in a French-speaking African country. Every morning, Gie Gie and her mother perch rings of cloth and large clay pots on their heads and walk miles to the nearest well to fetch murky, brown water. The story is inspired by model Georgie Badiel, who founded the Georgie Badiel Foundation to make clean water accessible to West Africans. The details in Reynolds’ expressive illustrations highlight the beauty of the West African landscape and of Princess Gie Gie, with her cornrowed and beaded hair, but will also help readers understand that everyone needs clean water—from the children of Burkina Faso to the children of Flint, Michigan.
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of potable water. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-17258-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
Earnest and silly by turns, it doesn’t quite capture the attention or the imagination, although surely its heart is in the...
Rhymed couplets convey the story of a girl who likes to build things but is shy about it. Neither the poetry nor Rosie’s projects always work well.
Rosie picks up trash and oddments where she finds them, stashing them in her attic room to work on at night. Once, she made a hat for her favorite zookeeper uncle to keep pythons away, and he laughed so hard that she never made anything publicly again. But when her great-great-aunt Rose comes to visit and reminds Rosie of her own past building airplanes, she expresses her regret that she still has not had the chance to fly. Great-great-aunt Rose is visibly modeled on Rosie the Riveter, the iconic, red-bandanna–wearing poster woman from World War II. Rosie decides to build a flying machine and does so (it’s a heli-o-cheese-copter), but it fails. She’s just about to swear off making stuff forever when Aunt Rose congratulates her on her failure; now she can go on to try again. Rosie wears her hair swooped over one eye (just like great-great-aunt Rose), and other figures have exaggerated hairdos, tiny feet and elongated or greatly rounded bodies. The detritus of Rosie’s collections is fascinating, from broken dolls and stuffed animals to nails, tools, pencils, old lamps and possibly an erector set. And cheddar-cheese spray.
Earnest and silly by turns, it doesn’t quite capture the attention or the imagination, although surely its heart is in the right place. (historical note) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0845-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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