Wordplay, visual jokes and strong design combine to create another winner for Thurlby—and readers.
Fans of Thurlby’s recent distinguished entry on the crowded alphabet-book shelves (Paul Thurlby’s Alphabet, 2011) won’t be disappointed by this clever follow-up.
Deceptively simple at first glance—or even first reading—this collection of short phrases paired with bold illustrations and basic facts rewards close examination. From the striped tiger on the cover, peering at potential readers through binoculars, through single-page portraits of other animals—among them a partially green polar bear, Travolta-esque bee (circa Saturday Night Fever), and wary dolphin—and finally to an inquisitive little boy, Thurlby packs the pages with humor. The bee, like all the other illustrations, is accompanied by two captions: “Express yourself” and “Bees talk to one another by dancing in patterns.” The first appears on the picture and in most cases is a familiar phrase, whether transcribed exactly, in pun form or created using homonyms. The second offers a bit of information about the animal pictured as well as providing the inspiration for the artwork. Digitally created, the pictures incorporate elements of painting, collage and printmaking and in some cases include (almost) hidden words or images. Visual jokes, such as a shovel-bodied mole, a nearsighted rabbit’s ears (which look like glasses) and a sunbathing goldfish, further enrich the fun.
Wordplay, visual jokes and strong design combine to create another winner for Thurlby—and readers. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: March 12, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6563-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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