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
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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
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BOOK REVIEW
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