Save for small groups or one-on-one sharing so readers can linger in this visual wonderland.
Wallace, author of The Cat’s Pajamas (2010), picks up where he left off, as the cover features a tiger sitting on a bed in splendid, red-and-white striped pajamas. On one foot is the old brown shoe that begins this often surreal but delightful fantastical romp.
Faithfully adhering to the rhythm of the “House that Jack Built,” the text introduces interesting things involved in actions or placed in settings that are unexpected. The shoe leads to introductions of a “bee with the smoochable lips,” “the fish with the spooky mask” and “the dog with a musical flair” among others. Although the text is entertaining in itself, the illustrations beg to be pored over. On most spreads, the left page displays framed text and a circular portrait of the animal or object newly added to the story. On the right is a lush, detailed painting executed in watercolor, gouache and pencil. Readers’ eyes will initially focus on what is referred to in the text but then wander into the dreamlike landscape, which is full of surprises that stretch the imagination. Is that a snow-capped mountain or ice cream? What are all of the green creatures in the flora doing? Why do some pages have puzzle pieces? The only constants are the shoe and “the button from the cat’s pajamas / That rolled away into a dream… // And became a wheel on Uncle Wally’s old brown shoe.”
Save for small groups or one-on-one sharing so readers can linger in this visual wonderland. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4598-0154-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
A lushly illustrated homage to librarians who provide a welcome and a home away from home for all who enter.
A love letter to libraries.
A Black child, with hair in two puffballs tied with yellow ribbons, a blue dress with a Peter Pan collar, and black patent leather Mary Janes, helps Grandmother with the housework, then, at Grandmother’s suggestion, heads to the library. The child’s eagerness to go, with two books under an arm and one in their hand, suggests that this is a favorite destination. The books’ wordless covers emphasize their endless possibilities. The protagonist’s description of the library makes clear that they are always free to be themselves there—whether they feel happy or sad, whether they’re reading mysteries or recipes, and whether they feel “quick and smart” or “contained and cautious.” Robinson’s vibrant, carefully composed digital illustrations, with bright colors that invite readers in and textures and patterns in every image, effectively capture the protagonist’s passion for reading and appreciation for a space where they feel accepted regardless of disposition. In her author’s note, Giovanni states that she spent summers visiting her grandmother in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she went to the Carnegie Branch of the Lawson McGhee Library. She expresses gratitude for Mrs. Long, the librarian, who often traveled to the main library to get books that Giovanni could not find in their segregated branch. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A lushly illustrated homage to librarians who provide a welcome and a home away from home for all who enter. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-358-38765-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Versify/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
IN THE NEWS
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
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