A collection of beautiful images and engaging ideas that never coheres.
A small, hard-to-define work that falls somewhere between a picture book, a poetry collection, and an art portfolio.
On the cover of Ross and Usova’s (Teapots and Assorted Things, 2015) latest work, a multicolored fish with a human face, clad in red boots, promises a whimsical, fantastical journey. Inside, the whimsy and fantasy are indeed plentiful. Each two-page spread presents a unique concept with Ross’ stripped-down text on the left and Usova’s intricate, watercolor-and-ink illustrations on the right. Many of Ross’ one- or two-sentence ideas, presented in their entirety, would make wonderful first lines of longer poems or stories, such as the opener: “A long time ago, / we had a home in the sky.” The accompanying painting of a child on top of a house, surrounded by birds, will make readers to want to know more about that home. Turning the page, however, switches gears; an image of a different child, observed by a pair of owls, drops a red pacifier outside of a crib, and the text reads: “Gravity is fun. / It works every time.” Subsequent pages introduce other unrelated characters and concepts, such as “Drucilla’s new town was different,” or a fish “with a village on her back.” The images often hint at a story that isn’t conveyed in the text; for instance, an illustration of a charming, three-headed dragon is associated with the lines, “Let’s go here. / No, let’s go there. / No, let’s go everywhere.” Some longer segments could be considered complete poems with rhythm and rhyme that evoke Dr. Seuss or Shel Silverstein, such as “The flying horses / neigh and dance and play. / I hope they stay.” But despite the combined images of children in a hot air balloon, surrounded by white, winged horses, the delightful idea in the text is never fully fleshed out. The rest of this poem consists of “Mom” saying that “tomorrow is another day / and more good things / will come our way.” This frustrating lack of development throughout the book prevents readers from fully inhabiting its imaginative worlds.
A collection of beautiful images and engaging ideas that never coheres.Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2016
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 26
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors.
A confused squirrel overreacts to the falling autumn leaves.
Relaxing on a tree branch, Squirrel admires the red, gold, and orange leaves. Suddenly Squirrel screams, “One of my leaves is…MISSING!” Searching for the leaf, Squirrel tells Bird, “Someone stole my leaf!” Spying Mouse sailing in a leaf boat, Squirrel asks if Mouse stole the leaf. Mouse calmly replies in the negative. Bird reminds Squirrel it’s “perfectly normal to lose a leaf or two at this time of year.” Next morning Squirrel panics again, shrieking, “MORE LEAVES HAVE BEEN STOLEN!” Noticing Woodpecker arranging colorful leaves, Squirrel queries, “Are those my leaves?” Woodpecker tells Squirrel, “No.” Again, Bird assures Squirrel that no one’s taking the leaves and that the same thing happened last year, then encourages Squirrel to relax. Too wired to relax despite some yoga and a bath, the next day Squirrel cries “DISASTER” at the sight of bare branches. Frantic now, Squirrel becomes suspicious upon discovering Bird decorating with multicolored leaves. Is Bird the culprit? In response, Bird shows Squirrel the real Leaf Thief: the wind. Squirrel’s wildly dramatic, misguided, and hyperpossessive reaction to a routine seasonal event becomes a rib-tickling farce through clever use of varying type sizes and weights emphasizing his absurd verbal pronouncements as well as exaggerated, comic facial expressions and body language. Bold colors, arresting perspectives, and intense close-ups enhance Squirrel’s histrionics. Endnotes explain the science behind the phenomenon.
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3520-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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