A jolly green delight of a tale, ideal for those young readers with outsize appetites for a good tale.
In this tale translated from Spanish, a voracious behemoth spells doom for a peaceful city.
The day starts like any other. A bespectacled, tan-skinned young boy named Victor enjoys his milky hot chocolate as his mom runs out the door, late for work. Things take a turn, however, when the earth shakes and everything falls to the floor. The cause? A green-skinned, hairy, nude giant (covered up by strategically placed clouds) has eaten the whole city—except Victor. After getting the full-bellied, napping creature’s attention, Victor explains that cities aren’t meant to be eaten but to be lived in. The solution to getting everyone back while still filling the giant’s hungry tum comes down to our hero’s ingenuity. While the book harkens back to classic tales of boys and giants, like Pete Seeger and Michael Hays’ Abiyoyo (1986), it deviates somewhat; rather than outwitting the foe, our protagonist plays upon the creature’s sympathies. Meticulously rendered art brings to horrendous life everything from the bumps on the giant’s tongue to its individual nose hairs. Alas, the book finishes on an oddly clunky note, contrasting wildly with its prior polished presentation. Even so, kids will revel as much in the logistics of confronting such a large antagonist as they will with the tale’s inevitable vomiting sequence. Publishes simultaneously in Spanish.
A jolly green delight of a tale, ideal for those young readers with outsize appetites for a good tale. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9781778400841
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Aldana Libros/Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: today
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fans of the series will delight in seeing these favorites again, and Girl and Dragon should win some new ones.
A young girl and a dragon take their sweet friendship on an adventure.
After sharing the beginning and deepening of their friendship in Lovabye Dragon (2012) and Evermore Dragon (2015), Joosse puts this twosome on a journey to the high seas. Girl, forever sleeping in her same bed, dreams of sailing away. Dragon, snug in his lair, dreams of sailing with Girl. “Sometimes when friends share a heart / they dream the same thing, apart.” So they pack a wicker basket, a spyglass, and a banner and wave goodbye. The ocean provides plenty of interest with dolphins, whales, and Bad Hats with ratty beards (depicted as Vikings who differ only in the amount of their facial hair). There’s also a cat. The dreamy, highly textured oil pictures by Cecil in his signature palette of gentle grays, greens, and blues make the transition from land to sea seamlessly. With a tender nod to “The Owl and the Pussycat,” the scenery is full of diversions while the clever rhyming verse full of wordplay drifts the story farther from Home. The hazy images allow young minds to see this tiny princess with dark hair as racially ambiguous. As in many famous stories, one must leave home to find home, which is the same for these two loving friends. “With Dragon as boat / and Girl as crew / there was nothing—nothing—they couldn’t do!”
Fans of the series will delight in seeing these favorites again, and Girl and Dragon should win some new ones. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7313-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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