Most apps have a long way to go before they will be as artful and engaging as this interactive wonder.
Deliciously interactive and profoundly immersive, this book provides rich imaginative play from cover to cover.
The cover is red, black and white, with a substantial diecut half-circle void bisecting its spine. The pages are just black and white. Each spread has an irresistible circular hole in its middle and a few black lines to make an image for its question. “What are you going to cook?” invites readers to see the hole as the opening of a pot, with savory steam rising from it. The hole becomes the mouth of a three-eyed creature, the stomach of a dyspeptic gentleman (“what did he eat too much of?”) and then the expansive middle of a cheery pregnant woman (“Did she eat too much, too?”) Readers can put their own heads in the holes to be king or queen or build their own block skyscraper through a hole that’s surrounded by them. There’s a game board—with the hole of course—to make up your own rules. Readers are invited to toss a crumpled sheet of paper through a hole to shoot baskets or to make a trunk for an elephant with their arms. Sometimes the black-and-white lines become patters with no text, leaving youngsters to ask their own questions about that hole.
Most apps have a long way to go before they will be as artful and engaging as this interactive wonder. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-85437-946-7
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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
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