MORE 'REVIEWS' POSTS
Scribble by Deborah Freedman. Knopf (a Random House imprint). $15.99. On shelves now. I like "Scribble". No, I don’t think you understand. I reeeeeeally like "Scribble". I like its art and its style and its "message" (or whatever the equivalent term might be) and pretty much everything about it. The only problem with "Scribble" is […]
(CONTINUED FROM PART ONE) I found myself thinking about a couple things from Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics when I read this book. McCloud states that people who read comics identify more readily with cartoonish characters than the ones who look more realistic. In this book, Lucie and her sister are relatively realistic with the princess […]
Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks. Harcourt, Inc. $17.00. On shelves now. Few pleasures are quite as sublime as reading a book, enjoying it, and only afterwards realizing that you’re familiar with the author. Ask me who Catherine Jinks was before I read "Evil Genius" and you’d have met with a blank stare accompanied by some […]
(CONTINUED FROM PART ONE) I mean, I had my reservations about the book too, don’t get me wrong. The man teaching guerrilla tactics at the academy is named Adolf and is nicknamed "The Fuhrer"? Seemed a bit much. And the wrapping up of the school and its gigantic cast of characters (I can’t have been […]
The Three Cabritos by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Stephen Gilpin. Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books. $16.99. On shelves now. Honesty is a good policy, right? I should be honest with you right from the start then. Ladies and gentlement, I feel no shame when I tell you that I worship at the hallowed shrine of […]
Laika By Nick Abadzis First Second (an imprint of Roaring Brook Press) $17.95 For ages 11 and up. On shelves now Dead dog books used to be a dime a dozen. Time was a kid couldn’t walk into a bookstore without getting whacked over the head with “Old Yeller”, creamed in the kisser by “Sounder”, […]
The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Jonathan Bean. Simon & Schuster. $15.99. On shelves now. Credit Julia for this review. This book sat on my shelf for quite some time before Julia mentioned on a recent post of mine that it looked to her like a real Caldecott contender. Greedy […]
(CONTINUED FROM PART ONE) Everyone and their mother is going to be cooing, oohing, and aahing over the pictures in this story, and it seems a bit unfair to not credit Lauren Thompson quite as thoroughly. Her previous picture book, Polar Bear Night, always struck me as far stronger in its words than its images. […]
We had a lovely librarian in from Japan just in. Well, former librarian. Apparently her particular city felt that all civil servants are interchangeable and one day she was told, "Surprise! You’re working in the tax bureau now!" I’ve had that nightmare before. For her, it is real. *shudder* Onward: The Wes Anderson penned adaptation […]
Starcross by Philip Reeve, illustrated by David Wyatt. Bloomsbury. $16.95. On shelves October 12th. They say science fiction for kids doesn’t sell. They say a lot of things, but this particular belief is pretty widespread. Space may be the final frontier, but as far as kidlit publishers go, literary reaches for the outer limits aren’t […]