Humorous but mean-spirited, this story about clever mind control that is only stopped by brute force is an unnecessary...
An impish monkey gets a comeuppance when pal Fred wakes up to some not-so-subtle mental bullying.
Whenever Fred, the forgetful elephant, is stymied into inactivity, the red monkey (with ink-drawn fuzz on the forehead that has the look of devil horns—probably not a coincidence) imagines mischievous activities for him. In a running dialogue, printed in black for the monkey and red for Fred, the monkey tells Fred that he was about to “ride a unicycle upside down,” “drink swamp water,” “go for a swim in the sea…with sharks,” “wrestle a rhino,” and “put on a nice dress and sing a happy song.” Easygoing Fred does these silly (and sometimes-dangerous) things and always winds up in trouble, sending the monkey into gales of laughter. It is his elephant friends’ laughter at the sight of him singing in a dress that suddenly rouses Fred’s indignation. Although he begins to obey the monkey’s demand that he peel a million bananas, Fred finally remembers what he really wants to do: squash his simian pal. In contrast to Jon Klassen’s I Want My Hat Back (2011), the last page portrays reconciliation, though readers may well wish it didn’t. The digital illustrations, created with pencil, paint, and chalk, have a sketchy quality that fits their content. In addition to the nastiness of the pranks, the elephant friends’ shaming of cross-dressing Fred sounds a sour note.
Humorous but mean-spirited, this story about clever mind control that is only stopped by brute force is an unnecessary addition to the picture-book shelf. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: June 7, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234916-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too many bugs, figuratively.
Lucy, “the youngest member of a family of fireflies,” must overcome an irrational, moon-induced anxiety in order to leave her family tree trunk and glow.
The first six pages pull readers into a lush, beautiful world of nighttime: “When the sun has set, silence falls over the Big Forest, and all of the nighttime animals wake up.” Mixed media provide an enchanting forest background, with stylized flora and fauna eventually illuminated by a large, benign moon, because the night “doesn’t like to catch them by surprise.” Turning the page catches readers by surprise, though: the family of fireflies is decidedly comical and silly-looking. Similarly, the text moves from a lulling, magical cadence to a distinct shift in mood as the bugs ready themselves for their foray into the night: “They wave their bottoms in the air, wiggle their feelers, take a deep, deep breath, and sing, ‘Here we go, it’s time to glow!’ ” It’s an acceptable change, but more unevenness follows. Lucy’s excitement about finally joining the other bugs turns to “sobbing” two nights in a row. Instead of directly linking her behavior to understandable reactions of children to newness, the text undermines itself by making Lucy’s parents’ sweet reassurances impotent and using the grandmother’s scientific explanation of moonlight as an unnecessary metaphor. Further detracting from the story, the text becomes ever denser and more complex over the book’s short span.
Too many bugs, figuratively. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-84-16147-00-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
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