Delightful art can’t save this problematic exploration.
Two penguin siblings, Slipper and Flipper, have grown up idolizing their famous forebear, helmet-wearing Spanish explorer Don Pingüino, and want to emulate him.
They set off to follow in his footsteps by exploring the Western Hemisphere, from Antarctica to Mexico. Despite the fact that neither the tango nor modern soccer had been invented by the time of the Age of Exploration, the residents of Buenos Aires remember Don Pingüino giving them the “dance of love,” and the Brazilians remember him playing soccer. This Methuselah of an explorer seems to gallivant just ahead of his tuxedoed descendants throughout their journey north. When Papa finally catches up, they happily proceed to take a bus tour of the continental United States, the titular “Land of the Golden Sun” and evidently their new home. Reagan’s Photoshopped pen-and-ink line art collaged into scenic photos is eye-catching and colorful. The ice floes are particularly captivating. Readers will enjoy the many gatefolds while looking for poor frantic Papa. Unfortunately, the meandering story detracts from the truly wonderful illustrations. In fact, the storyline is so inconsequential that it could have been wholly carried by the conversation bubbles, and the premise is hugely flawed. The conquistadores and the native peoples of the Americas didn’t exactly hit it off, yet these “native” penguins don’t seem to have a problem with the fact that their “ancestor” pillaged and conquered.
Delightful art can’t save this problematic exploration. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4231-6387-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
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
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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