More silly, superhero fun for fruit fans.
An antioxidant superhero returns to track down a mysterious blueberry squisher on his farm in this sequel.
Sheldon Bilberry, aka Blueberry Boy, has opened his family’s new farm to provide the first crop of berries to all the markets and residents of Jaloonsville. Sheldon and his friends, a group of boys with varying skin hues, are the primary harvesters. The antioxidants enhancing Blueberry Boy’s powers make his efforts lightning quick. But when the farm is open to all the residents to pick their berries, Sheldon hears a disturbing squishing noise. He hops on his tractor to discover the evildoer—only to find someone very surprising. Sheldon then comes up with a solution that shares the blueberry wealth. In this second installment of a picture book series from the team of Jones and Motz (Sheldon, the Antioxidant Super Hero of Jaloonsville, 2012), the superhero’s escapades are more comical than serious and the stakes are never very high. But fans of the first adventure should be glad to see Sheldon’s farm progressing. Motz’s humorous images are more funny pages than graphic novel. The two-dimensional pages feature flat lettering, little shading, and only occasional texturing. But the lack of additional details is appropriate to the tone of Jones’ story, and kids are likely to find someone who looks like them in the classroom at the end. The capper, in which Sheldon’s mother, a teacher, is telling his story to the class, seems an unnecessary and confusing conclusion, but the blue wonder’s tale should still amuse.
More silly, superhero fun for fruit fans.Pub Date: July 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-615-84955-3
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Melissa's Book Publishing LLC
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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