Too funny for its own good.
A book tells the story of how it was made.
It all starts, of course, with an idea, which strikes Barnett while arm-wrestling a tiger. An initial “bunch of words on paper” goes through draft after draft, then finally the 21st version is sent to Barnett’s editor (“like a teacher, only she works in a skyscraper”; she’s white, as are Barnett and Rex). The negotiation between author and editor covers several pages (and “most of the United States,” as dashed lines traverse the country, representing the back and forth). Finally, illustrator Rex receives Barnett’s words, and here hysterical vignettes depict Rex sleeping and goofing off as the text says, “he must have been working very hard.” At this point, the book starts to go off the rails, informing readers without explanation that even though it would be faster to print it in the United States, the book goes to China for printing. Then it really gets silly. First there’s a pile of books so large it’s visible from space (an ironic comment on small print runs that will mystify young readers), and then several pages of sheer looniness involving pirates and an eagle, among others, pad the story before readers finally finish it—which completes its creation. Rex’s mixed-media illustrations keep up with the text and pack in plenty of chuckles, but sadly, the verbal embroidery obscures a topic kids might be genuinely interested in.
Too funny for its own good. (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4231-5220-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the...
An all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades.
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the streets in the time-honored stiff-armed, stiff-legged fashion. McDonald signals her intent on page one: “Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie’s eye fell off and rolled across the floor.” The farce is as broad as the Atlantic, with enough spookiness just below the surface to provide the all-important shivers. Accompanied by Reynolds’ drawings—dozens of scene-setting gems with good, creepy living dead—McDonald shapes chapters around zombie motifs: making zombie costumes, eating zombie fare at school, reading zombie books each other to reach the one-million-minutes-of-reading challenge. When the zombie walk happens, it delivers solid zombie awfulness. McDonald’s feel-good tone is deeply encouraging for readers to get up and do this for themselves because it looks like so much darned fun, while the sub-message—that reading grows “strong hearts and minds,” as well as teeth and bones—is enough of a vital interest to the story line to be taken at face value.Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5692-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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