He may be just a toddler, but Max is getting a little old.
Has Ruby learned nothing? Underestimating Max never goes well.
Ruby and her friend Louise have an idea. Branding themselves the Babysitting Squad, they decide to hire themselves out—informing Max, Ruby’s younger brother, that he is neither professional nor bonded and so cannot be part of it. Soon the girls are off to their first job, however, with Max riding along in his full-sized Saw-toothed Dirt Bucketer and somehow also towing his Rock Crusher. Telling Max to play outside, the girls have big plans, but their charge, Percy, would rather wear a skunk suit and spray people with aftershave and mouthwash than cooperate. However, when Percy gets a look at Max digging in the backyard, once more the underestimated little brother saves the day. Ruby and Max inhabit a world in which people book babysitters on long corded phones and elementary-age babysitters boast that they are “bonded” without explanation. Even readers who accept this may wonder why Max is going along on the job when he’s been told he can’t. Beginning with insufficient setup, the book ends with a thunk (Max just turns on a sprinkler) rather than an actual conclusion. It all prompts the obvious question: Is it time to retire the sibling duo that has brought us such joy over the years? (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 30.3% of actual size.)
He may be just a toddler, but Max is getting a little old. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6328-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end.
Something is preventing Owl from falling asleep.
Owl leans back against his white pillow and headboard. “Squeek!” says something underneath the bed. Owl’s never heard that sound before, so he fastens his pink bathrobe and answers the front door. Nobody. It must be the wind; back to bed. Bidding himself goodnight, he climbs into bed—and hears the noise again. Time after time, he pops out of bed seeking the squeaker. Is it in the cupboard? He empties the shelves. Under the floor? He pulls up his floorboards. As Owl’s actions ratchet up—he destroys the roof and smashes the walls, all in search of the squeak—so does his anxiety. Not until he hunkers down in bed under the night sky (his bed is now outdoors, because the house’s roof and walls are gone), frantically clutching his pillow, does he see what readers have seen all along: a small, gray mouse. In simple illustrations with black outlines, textured coloring, and foreshortened perspective, Pizzoli plays mischievously with mouse placement. Sometimes the mouse is behind Owl or just out of his sightline; other times, the mouse is on a solid, orange-colored page across the spread from Owl, which removes him from Owl’s scene in a rather postmodern manner. Is the mouse toying with Owl? Who knows?
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1275-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
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