Definitely on a roll—or more accurately, a rutabaga—the creators of Dr. Pompo’s Nose (2000) assemble another world entirely from photographs of lusciously fresh, cleverly sculpted produce. A wind-blown baby pea tempts young Gus, all mushroom caps and stems, to set out through the towering artichokes of Howling Forest with his similarly fungal canine sidekick, Button. Surviving an encounter with the wood’s predatory resident (an artichoke wolf), the intrepid explorers discover on the other side a shining metropolis built amidst groves of broccoli and parsley from squash of various stripes, bright peppers, melons, and vegetables. After returning the pea to its grateful mother, Gus brings some of that color back to his own unrelievedly beige hometown. The digitally arranged tableaus accompany a sprightly rhymed text—“ ‘You crossed the wolfy woods?’ gasped Belle, ‘That is just incredible. / Either you are very brave, or you must be inedible.” In an afterword, the authors explain that everything has been made with real food, though the placement is digitally arranged. Playing with food has never been this much fun. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-439-11015-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2001
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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