In this whimsical account of enduring a cold, a boy begins by describing his symptoms, from runny nose and sore throat through fever. Vibrant digitally enhanced ink illustrations portray the boy as he goes through the stages of being sick and, along with the text, venture into the world of imagination when the boy recovers and thinks about where his cold might have gone. He recalls colds past, envisioning the bug as an anthropomorphic, green, red-nosed creature who visits people he knows, and wonders if his cold is traveling the world, visiting places such as Canada, the Alps and Peru. The colorful pictures show each area with basic, identifiable details and present people of various races and cultures throughout the world, while the playful story’s gentle humor will engage and entertain. It turns out the cold hasn’t traveled that far though; the boy realizes it’s traveled across the hall—to his sister’s room. Quirky and unusual, with a touch of multiculturalism, this may be just the right book to entertain a child who is feeling ill. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25474-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2010
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An interesting premise but the execution is underwhelming.
Stella hates going to bed, so she and her best buddy attempt to prevent the sun from setting.
Imaginative Stella, a young Black girl with Afro puffs, misses her friend Kamrynn, a light-skinned, straight-haired girl who has moved to “the other side of the world.” Luckily, Stella still has her best pal Roger, a blue hippo stuffie. Neither Stella nor Roger like sleeping: “Why do we have to miss all the fun and go to bed just because it gets dark?” Deciding that “if it never gets dark, then we can stay awake forever,” the duo work tirelessly to “keep the sun awake.” They play loud music, shine flashlights at the sun, and even make various attempts to launch a cup of coffee up to the celestial orb in hopes that caffeine will keep it alert. Eventually, the pair quit when they realize that if the sun never sets for them, morning can never come for Kamrynn, who wakes up when they go to bed. Despite the book’s sweet touches, the narrative is weakened by some meandering irrelevancies that make the plot feel disconnected. Also, at the beginning of the story, Stella seems enamored of the moon—she wishes she could jump high enough to kiss it—yet she and Roger spend the bulk of the book trying to prevent nightfall; this discrepancy may give some readers pause. The digital, cartoonlike illustrations are bright, colorful, and cheerful but don’t make up for the shaky plotting.
An interesting premise but the execution is underwhelming. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-8785-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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