I CAN DO THIS

Name: I CAN DO THIS
Author: Satoe Tone

by Satoe Tone & illustrated by Satoe Tone & developed by Paramecio Studio & Kite Edizioni Srl ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 3, 2012

Head-scratching storyline aside, it’s a beautiful book. Here’s hoping Tone will continue to create stunning visual scenery...

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Bad writing sinks this perplexing story about a misfit bird.

Illustrator Tone is clearly a gifted visual artist. Luscious combinations of color decorate every screen of this beautiful app, providing page after page of visual bliss. Interactive/animated elements are minimal, but fittingly so. The part that Tone could have used a little help on is writing the story (or perhaps translating it; the text can be read in English, French or its original Italian). The basic gist is easy to follow: In a family of high achievers, one little bird is a virtual failure. While others effortlessly swim, sing and fly, he falters time and again. But he’s a tenacious little guy. Eventually, he manages to tie a balloon around himself and fly, but it pops and leaves him stranded and alone. While lamenting his fate, he meets some lost flowers and agrees to stay with them until their children are born. The benevolent bird braves the elements throughout the seasons, and in the spring, a bird-shaped tree full of flowers has taken his place. Did he die? Was he a vegetable that had somehow been trapped in an avian body? Did he finally morph into what he was created to be?

Head-scratching storyline aside, it’s a beautiful book. Here’s hoping Tone will continue to create stunning visual scenery and leave the writing to someone else. (iPad storybook app, 2-6)

Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2012

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Kite Edizioni Srl

Review Posted Online: Jan. 6, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2013

- BOOK REVIEW
THE VERY BIG CARROT
by Satoe Tone ; illustrated by Satoe Tone

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S CHRISTMAS

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 23, 2014

Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...

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The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.

The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.

Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3

Page Count: 24

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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HOW TO CATCH SANTA CLAUS

From the How To Catch… series

by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2023

Cookie-cutter predictability.

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After all the daring escapes in the How To Catch… series, will the kids be able to catch Santa?

Oddly, previous installments saw the children trying (and failing) to catch an elf and a reindeer, but both are easily captured in this story. Santa, however, is slippery. Tempted but not fooled by poinsettias, a good book (attached to a slingshot armed with a teddy bear projectile), and, of course, milk and cookies, Santa foils every plan. The hero in a red suit has a job to do. Presents must be placed, and lists must be checked. He has no time for traps and foolery (except if you’re the elf, who falls for every one of them). Luckily, Santa helps the little rascal escape each time. Little is new here—the kids resort to similar snares found in previous works: netting, lures, and technological wonders such as the Santa Catcher 5000. Although the rhythm falters quite a bit (“How did we get out you ask? / It looked like we were done for. / Santa’s magic is very real, / and I cannot reveal more”), fans of the series may not mind. Santa and Christmas just might be enough to overcome the flaws. Santa and the elf are light-skinned, one of the children is brown-skinned, and the other presents as Asian. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Cookie-cutter predictability. (Picture book. 3-6)