Movie star Curtis allows her young versifier’s imagination a little foot room in this query of what happens to those balloons that get loose. “Where do they go / when they float far away? / Do they ever catch cold / and need somewhere to stay?” There are notes of disquiet sounded—“Do they keep going up? / Can they ever just stop? / I’m sure that they’re always / concerned that they’ll POP”—and there are hopes that the balloons are having a good time, maybe just kicking back and relaxing. Most of all, there is wonder about what’s up there—“Do the stars give a shove? / And send it on high / to that place up above”—and a desire for the balloon to be thrilling to its freedom. Cornell’s watery ink-and-wash illustrations are filled with sly references that adult readers will love. As the purple balloon disappears, the media crowd in, the police take notes, and the child narrator whispers, “round . . . purple . . . knots” to the inquiring reporter. Throughout, balloons sit in chairs in the doctor’s office or carry a suitcase to the Bates Motel. Signs advertise “the Detanglers” and balloons advertise various businesses like “Pauline’s Pedicures” (a foot-shaped balloon) or “Dr. Chas Collagen (1 800 LIPS).” The movie double feature is The Red Balloon and Around the World in Eighty Days. A double-paged fold out is required for THE BIG BALLOON DANCE, which must occur if they all get together wherever they go. Curtis (Today I Feel Silly, 1998, etc.) keeps the tale nimble, not dwelling too long on any one aspect of the balloon’s release—a sense of loss, having to let go, hopes, fears—making the mood optimistic rather than melancholy. Lighter than air. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-027980-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the...
An all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades.
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the streets in the time-honored stiff-armed, stiff-legged fashion. McDonald signals her intent on page one: “Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie’s eye fell off and rolled across the floor.” The farce is as broad as the Atlantic, with enough spookiness just below the surface to provide the all-important shivers. Accompanied by Reynolds’ drawings—dozens of scene-setting gems with good, creepy living dead—McDonald shapes chapters around zombie motifs: making zombie costumes, eating zombie fare at school, reading zombie books each other to reach the one-million-minutes-of-reading challenge. When the zombie walk happens, it delivers solid zombie awfulness. McDonald’s feel-good tone is deeply encouraging for readers to get up and do this for themselves because it looks like so much darned fun, while the sub-message—that reading grows “strong hearts and minds,” as well as teeth and bones—is enough of a vital interest to the story line to be taken at face value.Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5692-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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