Playwright Ives doesn’t stray far from his theatrical roots in this pointed tale of parochialism run amuck in a town not unlike Gotham or Chelm. MacOongafoondsen, population 21, is so isolated that when the townsfolk find a chimpanzee aboard a wrecked ship, they think he’s a French spy. Despite the best efforts of young Emmaline, daughter of the recently deceased mayor, and hereditary Town Fool Flurp (a.k.a. Philip), the fearful, easily-swayed populace falls for the legalistic bluster of rapacious new mayor Ignorantius B. Overbite and his slimy bailiff Lexter Shmink, condemning “Monsieur Eek” to death after a mock trial. The satiric aspects of that trial, and other set pieces, will go over less-sophisticated readers’ heads, but those with a taste for theater of the absurd will enjoy the way Ives lampoons authority figures, politics, law, and human society in general with his uncomplicated, broadly brushed cast of heroes, villains, and buffoons. Innocence triumphs in the end, of course, while villainy receives a proper comeuppance, and the wide world opens up for MacOongafoondsen with the timely arrival of human shipwreck survivors. Silly names aside, like Steven Bauer’s Cat of a Different Color or Paul Shipton’s Mighty Skink (both 2000), this gleeful attack on human ignorance and narrow-mindedness will appeal more to adult readers than most children. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: May 23, 2001
ISBN: 0-06-029529-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-292858-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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