Obvious messages and contrived situations make knitters and grandmas the primary audience.
Nyeu’s tale concerns a grandmother whose superpower is knitting.
“Nobody could spin a yarn like Granny Fuzz,” relays the omniscient narrator as the village “children” (an assortment of bunnies, foxes, and other creatures) descend underground into the white, long-nosed mammal’s cottage. While she works the spinning wheel and clicks away, Grandma describes the exploits of Iron Purl and her adversary, Bandit Bob, who can be spotted at the scene of every problem. When bats were eating all the berries in the bushes, the legendary knitter wrapped them in woolen cocoons, directing the villains to mitigate the destruction by planting a garden. When Bob’s sparkler set the fairground on fire, wet balls of yarn extinguished the flame, and the heroine swung in on a string to rescue a falling bunny. Busy silk-screened compositions are rendered in a controlled palette of greens, turquoise, mustard, and pinks. Some are fanciful and lively; variation is achieved with a combination of double-page spreads, panels, and targeted speech bubbles. The logic and solutions are a bit forced, however, as when Purl knits contraptions out of lace to safeguard pies that Bob has been stealing or when, after Bob steals socks, she suggests using pompoms to pair mismatched sets. Bob’s backstory—he was lonely and made trouble to gain attention—feels equally manufactured and heavy-handed. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Obvious messages and contrived situations make knitters and grandmas the primary audience. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-525-42870-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A read worth waiting for.
Two children find themselves on a time-traveling adventure while they wait for Grandpa’s cookies to come out of the oven.
When Kat and Ari build a time machine, they set it for “the future, to just after the cookies [are] finished baking.” But they end up bouncing through time—to that evening, when the cookies have already been eaten, then back to their very first time baking with Grandpa as young tots. Then they find themselves in the very distant future. Through this journey, Kat and Ari realize that waiting’s much easier when you lean into enjoying the passage of time together. Soft pastel colors convey this message deftly. Speeding through time, the children fly past an ombre rainbow. A wash of blue instantly indicates a nighttime scene lit by the light of Grandpa’s front porch. The far-off future includes plenty for readers to take in: a house with legs, a dragon-inspired airplane, and special tubes through which townspeople float through in place of streets. Effective use of panels moves the narrative along and gives it a graphic novel–esque feel. This playful story examines a child’s natural impatience while showcasing how very rewarding and special waiting can be. Grandpa has light brown skin, while Kat has tan skin; Ari presents Black.
A read worth waiting for. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781665936743
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
