What does it mean when a publisher specifically instructs that a review of a celebrity-written book not appear before its publication? Nothing good—and late-night star Leno’s maiden offering for kids lives up to this promise. Leno takes a promising concept—the overachieving dad’s new “project” (in this case, a new patio with rotisserie)—and grinds it into the dirt. Jay (big-jawed even in childhood), his dad, and the family dog, Bruce, pile into the car to the Hardware Supermax, load up on supplies, and haul it home to the clucking of his thrifty mom’s tongue. When the patio is finally built, little Jay starts shaving off bits of the inaugural roast with his comb—which then melts onto the beef, at last precipitating the act that inspires the title. The tale is told at the top of the authorial lungs, with no modulation in tone whatsoever. What in a cleverer craftsman’s hands could have been a terrifically kid-centered tale about parental foibles becomes a non-stop shout; magazine-illustrator Whitehead’s accompanying pictures suit the text perfectly, matching its lack of subtlety decibel for decibel. A CD with Leno himself performing the text reveals that his reading is as tone-deaf as his writing. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 23, 2004
ISBN: 0-689-86767-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2004
In his third beginning reader about Otto the robot, Milgrim (See Otto, 2002, etc.) introduces another new friend for Otto, a little mouse named Pip. The simple plot involves a large balloon that Otto kindly shares with Pip after the mouse has a rather funny pointing attack. (Pip seems to be in that I-point-and-I-want-it phase common with one-year-olds.) The big purple balloon is large enough to carry Pip up and away over the clouds, until Pip runs into Zee the bee. (“Oops, there goes Pip.”) Otto flies a plane up to rescue Pip (“Hurry, Otto, Hurry”), but they crash (and splash) in front of some hippos with another big balloon, and the story ends as it begins, with a droll “See Pip point.” Milgrim again succeeds in the difficult challenge of creating a real, funny story with just a few simple words. His illustrations utilize lots of motion and basic geometric shapes with heavy black outlines, all against pastel backgrounds with text set in an extra-large typeface. Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be welcome additions to the limited selection of funny stories for children just beginning to read. (Easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-85116-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
Floyd and Denise update “The Tortoise and the Hare” for primary readers, captioning each soft-focus, semi-rural scene with a short, simple sentence or two. Rabbit proposes running to school, while his friend Turtle takes the bus: no contest at first, as the bus makes stop after deliberate stop, but because Rabbit pauses at a pushcart for a snack, a fresh-looking Turtle greets his panting, disheveled friend on the school steps. There is no explicit moral, but children will get the point—and go on to enjoy Margery Cuyler’s longer and wilder Road Signs: A Harey Race with a Tortoise (p. 957). (Easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-202679-7
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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