Skip this stretch of a story and seek out stronger friendship titles instead.
Necks come in many sizes, and sometimes those sizes seem inconvenient.
Edward the giraffe is unhappy about his neck. It’s so…“necky.” Despite fancy adornments and multiple attempts to hide, Edward is unable to accept his longest-lasting problem—his neck. That is, until he meets his complete opposite: a turtle named Cyrus whose problem is also his neck. It’s too short. He desperately wants a banana but can’t reach it. Together they solve each other’s problems and delight in each other’s strengths, thereby also learning to accept themselves as just right. Smith’s artwork is eye-catching and expressive, with a retro feel, using earth tones and geometric shapes to evoke texture and dimension. The story, though lively, does not soar as high as Edward’s neck, remaining earthbound due to well-worn tropes and a too-tidy ending. Additionally, the author has missed out on a STEM opportunity by failing to introduce animal nomenclature, simply labeling the animals Edward believes are staring at him (a warthog, a crocodile, and other animals) as simply “This guy,” “That guy,” and so forth. A clever bit of paper engineering does enable readers to take part in the story for a brief moment. Learning to appreciate one’s body in all its complicated and even ungainly forms is a laudable moral—one that should hide itself behind a more original story.
Skip this stretch of a story and seek out stronger friendship titles instead. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-7203-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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