Miss Irma Birnbaum, “the toughest teacher in town” and star of Passen’s Attack of the 50-Foot Teacher (2000), returns in this hilarious end-of-the-school-year adventure. The story opens with an assignment: “Be prepared for a surprise,” says Miss Birnbaum, who sports a silver beehive hairdo and cat-eye glasses. The children think she’s planning a pop quiz. The truth is, she’s planning a party. But Miss Birnbaum is about to get a surprise of her own. That night, while preparing party food in the school cafeteria, Miss Birnbaum slips and falls “right into the prune pudding, kidney bean cookies, and brussels sprout juice.” Passen’s comical watercolors reveal Miss Birnbaum bathed in a golden glow. The knobby-kneed teacher has begun to shrink. Pretty soon, she can barely open the cafeteria door, and a trip to the library to find a cure reveals bookshelves as big as skyscrapers. Back in the classroom, a scary encounter with “Zippy” the class hamster (who’s now her equal in height) forces Miss Birnbaum to spend the night running on the wheel in his cage. Miss Birnbaum escapes in the morning but she’s almost crushed by the gigantic children who roam the hallway. Luckily, “Johnny O’Leary’s” lunch falls out of his backpack, his cupcake lands on Miss Birnbaum, and Johnny and friends discover the “yucky” stuff stuck in the icing is really their teacher. The students rush Miss Birnbaum to the principal’s office, where she returns to normal size after falling in the fish tank. With their teacher saved and pizza and cake replacing prune pudding at the party, the children are delighted. Expect the unexpected in this purely pleasurable tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8050-6452-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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