A worthy and empowering addition to any child’s bookshelf.
In this fantastical, wordless tale, written by Vandever and illustrated by Begay, a modern-day Diné (Navajo) girl saves a flock of sheep neglected by her cousins.
After her grandmother spots wolves on the mesa threatening the sheep, it’s up to the young protagonist to get the job done that her inattentive cousins did not. While wearing a headscarf, a symbol of ancestral knowledge and support, the girl is able to take flight and land on a wild horse to reach the sheep quicker. When she’s flung from the horse into a river, she must use her scarf once again for shelter on a raft and then fly away from the top of dangerous cliffs. Eventually, she’s able to complete her mission. The story ends with the girl returning home and getting the scarf tied into a traditional Diné bun, further emphasizing her cultural connections. The creative, multipanel layout of this work would lend itself well to a longer graphic-novel format, and additional text in the back will be beneficial for educational discussions about narrative arcs, the author’s symbolic intentions, and Diné storytelling traditions. Overall, it’s a work that provides much opportunity for conversation, and the minimalist illustrations are unique and beautiful, particularly the view seen through the grandmother’s binoculars.
A worthy and empowering addition to any child’s bookshelf.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73749-640-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: South of Sunrise Creative
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
What a wag.
What do you get from sewing the head of a smart dog onto the body of a tough police officer? A new superhero from the incorrigible creator of Captain Underpants.
Finding a stack of old Dog Mancomics that got them in trouble back in first grade, George and Harold decide to craft a set of new(ish) adventures with (more or less) improved art and spelling. These begin with an origin tale (“A Hero Is Unleashed”), go on to a fiendish attempt to replace the chief of police with a “Robo Chief” and then a temporarily successful scheme to make everyone stupid by erasing all the words from every book (“Book ’Em, Dog Man”), and finish off with a sort of attempted alien invasion evocatively titled “Weenie Wars: The Franks Awaken.” In each, Dog Man squares off against baddies (including superinventor/archnemesis Petey the cat) and saves the day with a clever notion. With occasional pauses for Flip-O-Rama featurettes, the tales are all framed in brightly colored sequential panels with hand-lettered dialogue (“How do you feel, old friend?” “Ruff!”) and narrative. The figures are studiously diverse, with police officers of both genders on view and George, the chief, and several other members of the supporting cast colored in various shades of brown. Pilkey closes as customary with drawing exercises, plus a promise that the canine crusader will be further unleashed in a sequel.
What a wag. (Graphic fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-58160-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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