A memorable gallery of humanity (and its outliers). (Picture book. 6-9)
In the wake of Seasons (2010), an equally beguiling barrage of simple images demonstrating this French illustrator’s unusual technical command and sharp powers of observation.
Screen printed on pleasantly rough paper in a limited range of colors, each of the over 200 figures (one per page, with rare exceptions) is composed of a few sharply distinct, realistically formed elements. They float beneath a large word or phrase that identifies a familiar activity (“Sleeping”), occupation (“Rabbi,” “Balloon Pilot”) or personal feature (“Amputee”). Many are paired with the facing image, often to witty effect: “Spy” follows “Eavesdropper”; a “Contortionist” and a “Plumber” adopt similar poses; the wintry breath of a man “Shivering” echoes that of one “Smoking.” Though most sport pink skin and contemporary western clothing, Blexbolex extends his purview with, for instance, two Maasai “Warriors” leaping, an Asian “Heroine” brandishing sais, a “Cowboy” and a “Pirate” in traditional garb—not to mention a “Corpse,” a green-skinned “Alien,” a “Mermaid” and a variety of humanoids from myth and legend such as “Cyclops” and “Demon.” The artist could have made more of an effort to be nonsexist in his language (“Fireman”) and exemplars (“Secretary,” “Waitress”), but the overall diversity and visual harmony complement the sheer tactile pleasure of turning the pages to create, cumulatively, an unusually rich browsing experience.
A memorable gallery of humanity (and its outliers). (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59270-110-0
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
Fans both young and formerly young will be pleased—100 percent.
Published in magazines, never seen since / Now resurrected for pleasure intense / Versified episodes numbering four / Featuring Marco, and Horton and more!
All of the entries in this follow-up to The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories (2011) involve a certain amount of sharp dealing. Horton carries a Kwuggerbug through crocodile-infested waters and up a steep mountain because “a deal is a deal”—and then is cheated out of his promised share of delicious Beezlenuts. Officer Pat heads off escalating, imagined disasters on Mulberry Street by clubbing a pesky gnat. Marco (originally met on that same Mulberry Street) concocts a baroque excuse for being late to school. In the closer, a smooth-talking Grinch (not the green sort) sells a gullible Hoobub a piece of string. In a lively introduction, uber-fan Charles D. Cohen (The Seuss, The Whole Seuss, and Nothing but the Seuss, 2002) provides publishing histories, places characters and settings in Seussian context, and offers insights into, for instance, the origin of “Grinch.” Along with predictably engaging wordplay—“He climbed. He grew dizzy. His ankles grew numb. / But he climbed and he climbed and he clum and he clum”—each tale features bright, crisply reproduced renditions of its original illustrations. Except for “The Hoobub and the Grinch,” which has been jammed into a single spread, the verses and pictures are laid out in spacious, visually appealing ways.
Fans both young and formerly young will be pleased—100 percent. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-385-38298-4
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.
Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.
Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© 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.
