Disappointing and odd.
A wordy, rambling story with an arbitrary conclusion.
Sadly, the clever and humorous endpapers are easily the best part of this “Jack and the Beanstalk”–esque story. When Andrea comes home with a box of holes she bought, her practical mother is not amused. Undaunted, Andrea retreats to her room, takes out a hole, and a mouse—who says he works for the tooth fairy, though why this information is pertinent is never shared—immediately appears. He demands the hole, claiming it’s missing from his cheese. For each hole, another character pops up, and while a few are clearly related to items in Andrea’s room, most are entirely haphazard. Each claims one of Andrea’s new holes is his or her own, missing from one bafflingly odd item after another. In an even more random-feeling turn of events, Andrea climbs into the last hole—which is apparently big enough for such an action—happening upon all the previously introduced characters and resulting in the recovery of her mother’s missing smile. Inconsistent art makes this already convoluted story even more confusing. More distressing, however, is the suggestion that a problem as serious as Andrea’s mother’s sadness and anger over her husband’s leaving can be instantly solved by magic.
Disappointing and odd. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: April 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-84-15784-44-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.
The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.
Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0935-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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