Review by New York Times Review
When Sam finds that someone has "sucked out the jamminess" of his doughnut - and really, what could be worse? - he puts ketchup inside to trap the culprit. Luckily the perpetrators are two "jampires," batlike creatures more cute than scary. Even luckier, they fly him to a land of cake castles, tart flowers and an ice cream moon. With rounded shapes, soft colors and pops of jam-bright red, O'Connell's art works delightfully with McIntyre's supple rhymes to spread a silly, sweetly escapist mood. RUDE CAKES Written and illustrated by Rowboat Watkins. 40 pp. Chronicle. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 7) Even in the world of cakes, some children never say thank you or please. This witty, original debut makes an example of a young pink cake who shouts mean things at tiny crumbs and thinks that "bedtime is for doughnut holes." It takes a Giant Cyclops - turns out they're paragons of politesse - to steer the wayward cake onto the path of niceness. With adorably scruffy art and a clever, gag-filled story, Watkins brings a refreshing irreverence to the often deadly mind-your-manners genre. ICE CREAM SUMMER Written and illustrated by Peter Sis. 40 pp. Scholastic Press. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) The latest from the masterly Sis ("Starry Messenger," "The Wall") takes the form of a letter from a boy named Joe to his grandfather. The two have a trip planned at summer's end. In the meantime, Joe assures Grandpa he's keeping up his reading and math, even cartography and history. The illustrations tell a different story, in which delicious-looking ice cream plays a starring role. It's a winsome treat, with some nutritious facts (did you know the waffle cone was born in 1904?) sneaked in. ANNA BANANA AND THE CHOCOLATE EXPLOSION! By Dominique Roques. Illustrated by Alexis Dormal. 22 pp. First Second. $15.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) This second book about the wild-haired Anna Banana and her talkative stuffed-animal friends shows why the comics-style picture book trend is going strong: It's action-packed yet lovely to look at. The crew wants some chocolate cake, and Anna decides to teach them to bake. Complications ensue as Fuzzball can't get the hang of whisking (who can?) and Grizzler sneaks off to the bakery to fake his contribution. Teamwork prevails; the happy results leave a mess but look tasty. HUNGRY ROSCOE Written and illustrated by David J. Plant. 40 pp. Flying Eye. $17.95. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Roscoe is a raccoon - a hungry one who lives in a city park and is tired of "eating rotten junk" out of trash cans. In search of anything scrumptious, he heads to the zoo, where he's promptly booted out by a burly zookeeper. Penguin and tortoise disguises don't work. But the monkeys step in with a plan that brings hilarious mayhem to the zoo and a succulent bucket of fruit to Roscoe. In this debut picture book, Plant pours on the charm, with retro-looking sorbet-colored art and a perfectly paced story. ONLINE An expanded visual presentation of this week's column at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [June 21, 2015]
Review by Booklist Review
A young boy answers a letter from his grandfather, detailing his summer studies in anticipation of a special trip at summer's end. But somehow everything in the boy's letter is suffused with ice cream! He tells of his math work, and we see him starting with 10 scoops and losing 3. He practices cartography, and we see a map built of flavorful ingredients. He studies world history, and we see the advent of ice cream, traced from China, through Italy, across Europe, and over to America. And all of this endeavor is perfect preparation for the pair's journey to climb Ice Cream Peak. Sís' imaginative interpretations feature bright blocks of imagery with simple, symmetrical composition laid above spare, multicolor text. Watercolor washes in sweet jewel tones illuminate the boy's account, offering lots of surreptitious information among the details. This delectable amalgam of historical record and confectionery celebration is both a delight for the eyes and an inspiration for the tummy. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Sís is that all-too-rare combination: best-selling and award-winning. While we don't know if either of those fates await this one, we do expect demand for Ice Cream this summer.--Barthelmess, Thom Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Sís, whose multilayered The Pilot and the Little Prince and The Tree of Life show a boundless curiosity, turns his research attention to a sweeter subject: ice cream. In this appealing book, watercolored in sherbet hues of raspberry and tangerine, a grandson writes a letter to his grandfather. The boy reports having "a delicious summer," and promises, "I read every day." An illustration reveals his literary inspirations-including "big words like tornado and explosion"-on an ice-cream shop's list of flavors. The boy keeps up with math ("If each scoop costs 50¢ and I have $2.00"), studies cartography by mapping cocoa and pistachio landmarks, and learns about history: his fanciful timeline reveals that Marco Polo introduced China's frozen confection to Italy and that the waffle cone was invented at the 1904 World's Fair. "I always take a break on sundaes," the boy admits. At the conclusion, the grandson and grandfather meet and scale a cone-shaped "Ice Cream Peak." Such a vanilla conclusion could use a cherry on top, but even so, Sís gives summer dreamers the scoop on a cool treat. Ages 4-8. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-In response to a letter from his Grandpa, Joe is happy to convince his grandfather that he deserves a special trip planned for later in the summer. He is definitely not forgetting about his schoolwork. Joe is reading, writing a book, solving word problems, studying history, and even learning cartography. What he doesn't mention is that he is learning all of this through his fascination with ice cream. Joe eats it and draws it, builds it and dreams it, and even knows the ins and outs of how it came to be. When Joe finds out where they are going on their special trip, it is the cherry on top of a fantastic summer. This book is fabulous for teachers introducing a unit on letter writing or research skills. The facts about how ice cream was invented are interesting and presented in a cartoonlike manner that children will find entertaining. Sís's illustrations are done in a beautiful rainbow of watercolor, making readers feel the warmth of summer and the cool delight associated with this delicious treat. Children will love finding all of the ways that ice cream is incorporated into each picture. VERDICT A great choice as a tool for teaching or simply as an enjoyable read.-Amy Shepherd, St. Anne's Episcopal School, Middleton, DE © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Ss serves up a picture book treat for ice-cream lovers, along the way teaching them some history behind this favorite dessert (an authors note on the copyright page acknowledges there are some differences of opinion and provides a brief bibliography). The text is Joes brief letter to his grandfather detailing his delicious summer. The boys descriptions of his various activities (reading, writing, practicing math) never mention that each revolves around ice cream. However, Sss summery-hued illustrations, along with occasional incorporated text, put ice cream into everything Joe does. For example, he reports that the encyclopedias from Grandpa have enabled him to travel to ancient China, and the accompanying picture shows a series of line drawings depicting how the first ice cream was made there two thousand years ago. And when Joe writes that he is conquering big words like tornado and explosion, the illustration shows him gazing at an array of ice-cream flavors (cherry tornado, mango explosion). Throughout, Ss cleverly blends ice-cream cones into the art -- the Statue of Liberty holds one aloft; trees are shaped like them -- and at books end, a special trip that Grandpa had promised turns out to be a trip to the top of Ice Cream Peak, the fanciful cherry on top of a sweet story. megan dowd lambert (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In ice cream colors, Ss delivers an encomium to summer, to the power of learning, and to that beloved, creamy-cold treat. A little boy, his red baseball cap on backward as is proper, gets a letter from his grandpa and writes back telling him all the things he is doing for the summer. He is learning new words and creating his own book. He is making maps and researching history. He is even practicing equations. The pictures, however, expand the story in most delicious ways. He is learning new words from the ice cream stand: "mango explosion" and "cherry tornado"! Maps include features named "blueberry hill" and "ice land." History includes Marco Polo bringing recipes from China to Italy and President James Madison serving ice cream (with strawberries from Dolley Madison's garden). In every one of the exquisitely detailed images, ice cream appears in many guises: waves on the beach are scoop-shaped, and sandcastles have cone turrets; the bases on a ball field are ice cream sandwiches; even Lady Liberty holds a cone aloft in place of her torch. The typeusually just one sentenceis in a different flavor on each page, and the endpapers are a blue sea of cones and ice cream bars. Oh, yum. (author's note, further reading) (Picture book. 4-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
