Jack and Dexter have become a beloved duo, and the dino’s behavior-modeling sure goes down easily.
Jack and his over-the-top, animate, orange T. Rex toy are back, this time tackling their fears of flying.
Jack and Dexter are very excited for vacation—they are going “someplace exotic called FLOR-I-DA.” But when the car stops too soon and Dexter realizes they are at the airport, even his vacation accessories can’t keep him from losing his cool; everyone knows T. Rex arms are too short for flying. But just as Dexter really starts to melt down, he gets a glimpse of Jack and realizes he needs to take care of his boy. Dexter pulls out all the stops in calming Jack, and the duo sing their song (with an airplane twist), peer out the window, and enjoy the movie and all the cookies the “nice lady” plies them with. Ward’s orange dino continues to break the fourth wall, though he’s a mite calmer than usual in this outing. The illustrations are just as laugh-out-loud funny as ever, with the toy’s expressions stealing every scene. Jack, who has brown skin, sits in a window seat next to a girl/woman who shares his coloring; across the aisle are a man and a woman with a baby who also all have brown skin. The relationships are not clear, though the text states Jack is not sitting with his parents.
Jack and Dexter have become a beloved duo, and the dino’s behavior-modeling sure goes down easily. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5420-4320-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
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
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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