Well-intentioned but clunky.
The methods of two neighboring farmers pit chemical agriculture against naturally grown food.
Thump-Thump Giant raises produce quickly, utilizing a shed full of pesticides and herbicides. He fattens his cows and sheep with chemical-laced feed. Nearby, Grandma Snail raises her crops and animals without chemicals. She works harder than Thump-Thump Giant but shines with confidence in her food’s superior flavor. The farmers sell at side-by-side stands. Both draw customers but for different reasons. The giant’s robust food is cheap, while Grandma Snail’s is both imperfect and delicious. She sells out her crops, but Thump-Thump Giant always has unsold produce left over. The text crams the history of industrial farming into Thump-Thump Giant’s modus operandi. He sprays pesticides on his leftover food, intending to sell later. He packages heat-and-serve, preservative-laden meals for busy people. His Ready Meals are a hit until people sicken from eating them. Grandma Snail, meanwhile, writes a guide to growing and cooking natural foods and shares her farming knowledge with visitors. The didactic narrative is thick with stilted, over-the-top dialogue. “My child got a skin disease after eating Ready Meals!” one customer shouts. “I feel bloated and have indigestion,” another says. At Slow Farm, a diner avows, “I taste the refreshing and sweet flavor of fresh vegetables the more I chew.” Thump-Thump’s predictable reformation follows; pleasantly folk-style depictions of a diverse community elevate the package.
Well-intentioned but clunky. (additional facts, interview, activities) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-939248-20-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: TanTan
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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