It is a book chock-full of fun—what more could one want? (Picture book. 3-8)
Lollipop colors and utterly cheery simplicity make for a rousing read-aloud chant.
A multiethnic cast of small children and adults lists happy-making small joys in rhyme. It is near impossible not to find something readers will love, too, whether “red socks” and “building blocks” or “braids” and “parades.” The pictures range from multiple small vignettes on a spread to full-page illustrations. One particularly striking composition places “city lights” across the gutter from “starry nights.” In the first picture, a child tucked in bed looks out her window to a brightly lit nighttime cityscape; opposite, a parent and child toast marshmallows outside their tent on a hill under the stars. It’s hard not to love “strawberry ice” and “pizza slice” or a grandfather and grandson pushing their “grocery carts” full of stuff (and those carts rhyme with “frosted hearts”). Fine line and strong color make each image a joy: There’s lots of pattern and movement to every figure, therefore much to revel in visually. All 100 things are numbered and reproduced as a poster on the inside of the dust jacket, and the endpapers are striped in every color used.
It is a book chock-full of fun—what more could one want? (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0518-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A validating and breathtaking next chapter of a Mother Goose favorite.
Humpty Dumpty, classically portrayed as an egg, recounts what happened after he fell off the wall in Santat’s latest.
An avid ornithophile, Humpty had loved being atop a high wall to be close to the birds, but after his fall and reassembly by the king’s men, high places—even his lofted bed—become intolerable. As he puts it, “There were some parts that couldn’t be healed with bandages and glue.” Although fear bars Humpty from many of his passions, it is the birds he misses the most, and he painstakingly builds (after several papercut-punctuated attempts) a beautiful paper plane to fly among them. But when the plane lands on the very wall Humpty has so doggedly been avoiding, he faces the choice of continuing to follow his fear or to break free of it, which he does, going from cracked egg to powerful flight in a sequence of stunning spreads. Santat applies his considerable talent for intertwining visual and textual, whimsy and gravity to his consideration of trauma and the oft-overlooked importance of self-determined recovery. While this newest addition to Santat’s successes will inevitably (and deservedly) be lauded, younger readers may not notice the de-emphasis of an equally important part of recovery: that it is not compulsory—it is OK not to be OK.
A validating and breathtaking next chapter of a Mother Goose favorite. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62672-682-6
Page Count: 45
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This should send Dark Knight fans flying to the Batcave—or the bedroom.
Holy bedtime, Batman!
In a sleepy-looking neighborhood under a dusky cerulean sky, a young, brown-haired, white boy goes through the motions of getting ready for bed: he brushes his teeth, takes a bath, picks up his toys, and feeds his fish. In a parallel visual narrative, beckoned by the cat's-eye–yellow bat-signal, Batman keeps Gotham safe for another night by catching crooks, locking them away, and avenging those who have been wronged. Though the two characters are quite different, through a carefully flexible narrative, Dahl and Beavers weave a convincing tale of just how similar they might be. “It’s time to take care of business” describes the child’s trip to the potty and Batman’s dive down a manhole equally well, for instance. Beavers' art is visually striking and vibrantly hued, perfect for keeping young eyes glued to each page. Dahl's economical text is cadenced with a gentle lilt, just right for a bedtime read-aloud. Young fans of the caped crusader will delight in spying their favorite characters. In the already-overstuffed bedtime-book market, this is certainly a niche read, but it hits its mark well, delivering fun without darkness. A “bedtime checklist” at the end aptly includes “story time.”
This should send Dark Knight fans flying to the Batcave—or the bedroom. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62370-732-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 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.
