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FARMER FALGU GOES TO THE MARKET

Name: FARMER FALGU GOES TO THE MARKET
Author: Chitra Soundar
ISBN: 978-8-181-903129

by Chitra Soundar ; illustrated by Kanika Nair ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2018

The story itself has some cracks, but it has both a good moral lesson and likely appeal for young kids

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When life breaks your eggs, make omelets!

The story’s titular protagonist is an adult, brown-skinned Indian farmer who is taking his eggs and produce to the market on an ox cart but has to improvise when the ride turns bumpy. Unexpected potholes, heedless ducks, and speeding trucks cause Farmer Falgu’s produce to topple and the eggs to crack. Should he go back home, or can he find a way to turn things around? While the story has a valuable lesson, it seems contrived in many respects. Despite the cracks, Farmer Falgu’s eggs survive long enough for him to make a mass of crowd-pleasing omelets, and a stove magically appears when he needs one. Also, one wonders how many farmers in present-day Rajasthan travel in an ox cart to sell eggs, but perhaps some do. Similar to series opener Farmer Falgu Goes on a Trip (2016), the concise onomatopoeic sounds are in bigger and color-coded type, which provides additional emphasis and is perfect for read-alouds. The bold, thick-outlined illustrations are engaging, but they provide only a narrow reflection of rural India.

The story itself has some cracks, but it has both a good moral lesson and likely appeal for young kids . (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: April 3, 2018

ISBN: 978-8-181-903129

Page Count: 30

Publisher: Karadi Tales

Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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IT'S TIME TO HUSH AND SAY GOOD NIGHT
by Chitra Soundar ; illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat

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GARLAND OF LIGHTS
by Chitra Soundar ; illustrated by Amberin Huq

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SONA SHARMA, LOOKING AFTER PLANET EARTH
by Chitra Soundar ; illustrated by Jen Khatun

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WHERE ARE YOUR SHOES, MR. BROWN?

by Justin Rhodes ; illustrated by Heather Dickinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2023

Pedestrian.

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Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.

Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 14, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals

Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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TOYS GALORE

by Peter Stein ; illustrated by Bob Staake ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 2013

Clever verse coupled with bold primary-colored images is sure to attract and hone the attention of fun-seeking children...

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A fizzy yet revealing romp through the toy world.

Though of standard picture-book size, Stein and illustrator Staake’s latest collaboration (Bugs Galore, 2012, etc.) presents a sweeping compendium of diversions for the young. From fairies and gnomes, race cars and jacks, tin cans and socks, to pots ’n’ pans and a cardboard box, Stein combs the toy kingdom for equally thrilling sources of fun. These light, tightly rhymed quatrains focus nicely on the functions characterizing various objects, such as “Floaty, bubbly, / while-you-wash toys” or “Sharing-secrets- / with-tin-cans toys,” rather than flatly stating their names. Such ambiguity at once offers Staake free artistic rein to depict copious items capable of performing those tasks and provides pre-readers ample freedom to draw from the experiences of their own toy chests as they scan Staake’s vibrant spreads brimming with chunky, digitally rendered objects and children at play. The sense of community and sharing suggested by most of the spreads contributes well to Stein’s ultimate theme, which he frames by asking: “But which toy is / the best toy ever? / The one most fun? / Most cool and clever?” Faced with three concluding pages filled with all sorts of indoor and outside toys to choose from, youngsters may be shocked to learn, on turning to the final spread, that the greatest one of all—“a toy SENSATION!”—proves to be “[y]our very own / imagination.”

Clever verse coupled with bold primary-colored images is sure to attract and hone the attention of fun-seeking children everywhere. (Picture book. 4-7)