A delightful voyage well worth taking.
An exploration of the oceans yields stunning discoveries.
A brown-haired, tan-skinned child descends beneath the waves in a wide-windowed Dream Submarine to watch as marine life beds down for the night. What amazing sights there are to behold from that vantage point as the sub sails through the world’s waters. Beautifully colored fish and other marine creatures—some familiar, some likely lesser known—are visible up close in all their glory. Some bear unusual names—soapfish, sweetlips, stargazers, maomao—and some demonstrate intriguing habits (shrimp clean between eels’ teeth; some fish change colors or patterns). Then, there’s a glittery surprise as the submarine dives down and we see a light show with displays of glittery bioluminescence (though that term isn’t used). Children who weren’t previously aware of this underwater phenomenon will be amazed to discover that some sea creatures have the ability to light up because the waters in which they dwell are so dark they must illuminate their own undersea paths. More surprises are in store when the submarine eventually rises from the sea, and the young seafarer surveys the stars in the dark skies above—enough “to make a wish for every fish and each creature in the sea.” This lovely book, expressed in smooth, gentle prose, makes a snuggly bedtime choice. The beautifully colored, crisp, clean digital illustrations capture some fascinating denizens and environs of the deep.
A delightful voyage well worth taking. (map of the Dream Submarine’s voyage, information on the ocean animals depicted in the story, more to explore, ocean zones) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 4, 2024
ISBN: 9781536224795
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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