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THE WOLF AND THE LITTLE GOATS

Name: THE WOLF AND THE LITTLE GOATS
Author: The Brothers Grimm

by The Brothers Grimm & developed by We Are Faces ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 14, 2011

Third-rate art, storytelling and software design put this at the very bottom of the slag heap.

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Low production values, generic interactive effects and a chopped-up, poorly paraphrased text sink this version of the cautionary Brothers Grimm tale.

Warning her little ones that “there’s a scary wolf in the forest” (though the cartoon illustrations set the story in a densely populated urban setting), Mama Goat leaves on an errand. Enter the wolf, dressed in jeans, a wife beater and a ’do rag, claiming to be their mother. Failing to gain entrance at first and somehow intuiting that his voice doesn’t sound like hers, the wolf visits a blacksmith who “made it very soft” (one can only wonder how). He eventually eats most of the kids but ultimately drowns in a “well” (actually a park fountain) after Mama Goat replaces them (offstage) with rocks. The brief text is available in English and Russian. The English text is awkward, and several words are mispronounced by the heavily accented narrator—whose voice is also frequently overwhelmed by the loud background music. Taps on various pages activate random beeps from passing cars, loud birdsong and panicky bleats from both the kids and, oddly, their toy blocks.

Third-rate art, storytelling and software design put this at the very bottom of the slag heap. (iPad storybook app. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 14, 2011

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: WE ARE FACES

Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011

- BOOK REVIEW
IN FAIRYLAND
by The Brothers Grimm ; illustrated by Hans Fischer ; translated by David Henry Wilson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FROG PRINCE
by The Brothers Grimm ; illustrated by Sybille Schenker

- BOOK REVIEW
FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM
by The Brothers Grimm & Erik Forrest Jackson illustrated by Owen Richardson

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TINY LITTLE ROCKET

by Richard Collingridge ; illustrated by Richard Collingridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 31, 2018

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off.

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This rocket hopes to take its readers on a birthday blast—but there may or may not be enough fuel.

Once a year, a one-seat rocket shoots out from Earth. Why? To reveal a special congratulatory banner for a once-a-year event. The second-person narration puts readers in the pilot’s seat and, through a (mostly) ballad-stanza rhyme scheme (abcb), sends them on a journey toward the sun, past meteors, and into the Kuiper belt. The final pages include additional information on how birthdays are measured against the Earth’s rotations around the sun. Collingridge aims for the stars with this title, and he mostly succeeds. The rhyme scheme flows smoothly, which will make listeners happy, but the illustrations (possibly a combination of paint with digital enhancements) may leave the viewers feeling a little cold. The pilot is seen only with a 1960s-style fishbowl helmet that completely obscures the face, gender, and race by reflecting the interior of the rocket ship. This may allow readers/listeners to picture themselves in the role, but it also may divest them of any emotional connection to the story. The last pages—the backside of a triple-gatefold spread—label the planets and include Pluto. While Pluto is correctly labeled as a dwarf planet, it’s an unusual choice to include it but not the other dwarfs: Ceres, Eris, etc. The illustration also neglects to include the asteroid belt or any of the solar system’s moons.

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 31, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-338-18949-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: David Fickling/Phoenix/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LIONHEART
by Richard Collingridge ; illustrated by Richard Collingridge

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WAITING IS NOT EASY!

From the Elephant & Piggie series

by Mo Willems ; illustrated by Mo Willems ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 4, 2014

A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends

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Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”

When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.

A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)