In an illustration bounded by neat white borders, Wallace Bleff writes ``How I Spent My Summer Vacation'' on the blackboard at school. Then imagination takes over as a steam engine thunders right out of the wall and readers are transported to the Wild West, depicted larger-than-life in full-bleed oil paintings. Captured by cowboys, Wallace acquires a fancy cowpoke costume, learns to rope and ride, and bravely diverts a stampede, matador-style. The rhyming text derives much of its humor from its interplay with the illustrations. When Wallace's Aunt Fern calls to invite the cowboys to a barbecue, the illustration shows Wallace in a modern phone booth, plunk in the middle of nowhere. In another spread, fat longhorn cattle stampede directly toward Aunt Fern's, where a green, mowed lawn borders abruptly on scrubby desert. The jokes continue right up to the final page, where Teague playfully trounces any last remaining boundaries between fantasy and reality. Rip-roaring fun. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-517-59998-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A handsome edition of an old favorite.
The familiar cumulative game is played by four children, along with their father and their dog, at the typically British beach pictured on the lovely, expansive first endpaper.
The children's real activities are shown in b&w drawings; the imaginative doings appear in full color. Although some of the color pages show perfectly possible events, most are clearly fantasy, suggesting just how close the two may be in children's minds. The family ends up in safe retreat in one big cozy bed; the bear is seen--on the second essential, beautiful endpaper--headed into a gloomy sea. Oxenbury's splendid watercolors and drawings perfectly evoke both landscape and the members of the questing family.
A handsome edition of an old favorite. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1989
ISBN: 978-0-689-50476-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1989
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