This western-tinged tale stars Matilda the cat, one of the worst waitresses ever. She always gets orders wrong, is messy and uncoordinated. The reason for this poor performance is her constant imaginative storytelling. Customers easily forgive her work deficiencies for the excitement of “lassoin’ bad guys or wrestlin’ twisters.” Burt, the doggy diner owner, likes that the customers are kept in their seats in anticipation of each creative tale. Then the health inspector cites the diner for all sorts of violations, all due to Matilda. In order to save the diner, Matilda straightens out and becomes the perfect waitress. This pleases only the health inspector; everyone else is dismayed by the lack of storytelling and excitement. When a robbery occurs at the diner, Matilda’s storytelling saves the day. Cartoonish illustrations are toddler friendly with lots of bright colors and visual jokes, but the Western style of the writing seems arbitrary as the diner is in a city. For a humorous picture book story with western flair, try The Three Little Javelinas (1992), by Susan Lowell, instead. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-82403-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2006
Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be...
In his third beginning reader about Otto the robot, Milgrim (See Otto, 2002, etc.) introduces another new friend for Otto, a little mouse named Pip.
The simple plot involves a large balloon that Otto kindly shares with Pip after the mouse has a rather funny pointing attack. (Pip seems to be in that I-point-and-I-want-it phase common with one-year-olds.) The big purple balloon is large enough to carry Pip up and away over the clouds, until Pip runs into Zee the bee. (“Oops, there goes Pip.”) Otto flies a plane up to rescue Pip (“Hurry, Otto, Hurry”), but they crash (and splash) in front of some hippos with another big balloon, and the story ends as it begins, with a droll “See Pip point.” Milgrim again succeeds in the difficult challenge of creating a real, funny story with just a few simple words. His illustrations utilize lots of motion and basic geometric shapes with heavy black outlines, all against pastel backgrounds with text set in an extra-large typeface.
Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be welcome additions to the limited selection of funny stories for children just beginning to read. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-85116-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
Floyd and Denise update “The Tortoise and the Hare” for primary readers, captioning each soft-focus, semi-rural scene with a short, simple sentence or two. Rabbit proposes running to school, while his friend Turtle takes the bus: no contest at first, as the bus makes stop after deliberate stop, but because Rabbit pauses at a pushcart for a snack, a fresh-looking Turtle greets his panting, disheveled friend on the school steps. There is no explicit moral, but children will get the point—and go on to enjoy Margery Cuyler’s longer and wilder Road Signs: A Harey Race with a Tortoise (p. 957). (Easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-202679-7
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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