Super Saurus’ imagination once again conquers a challenging situation.
Having saved kindergarten (2017), Super Saurus tackles his next issue: his parents’ unhatched egg.
This kid’s imagination knows no bounds, so when faced with the uncertainty of a brother or a sister, he does the only thing he can: declare “Super Saurus works alone” and imagine that it’s the “EGG OF DOOM.” He’ll be ready no matter what hatches. His “Super Sun” will shrivel a “vampire-saurus,” his “Robot Ruster” will stop a “planet-crushing robot,” and Maud the Marauder will vamoose at the first sound from his “Bagpipe Blaster.” Super Saurus has to keep the egg close in order to immediately overpower whatever hatches, and despite his words to the contrary, his parents think it’s sweet how taken he is with the idea of being a big brother. When the inevitable happens, Super Saurus truly does vanquish the tot that hatches, but his little sister does some vanquishing of her own…and becomes a great sidekick: Super Goo. Young’s acrylic illustrations play up the dichotomy between Super Saurus’ fancies and, with the turn of a page, reality: Toys, a fish net, a flashlight, and bubbles are the common items that turn into his superhero tools (and that readers are likely to have as well). These dinos are sauropods, the parents with long necks. Super Saurus has blue hair like his dad’s, and Goo, blonde, like her mother’s.
Super Saurus’ imagination once again conquers a challenging situation. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 22, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4231-7569-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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