Review by New York Times Review
CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOKS are called picture books for a reason. The words are vital, of course, and they usually play an equal role, but the pictures pretty much always do the heavy lifting. In books where the words are understated or spare, the pictures are often overstated and elaborate. And then there are the wordless picture books, where the pictures don't even share the spotlight. In these five new picture books, the pictures are back at center stage, but the spotlight is on the words - or play of words. This subtle relationship shift has consequences. As the wordplay gets more complex, the pictures must exert more effort and ingenuity to make sense out of it. The result is uniquely offbeat, and wildly whimsical. Most kids are familiar with the cryptic question: "Why is 6 afraid of 7?" The answer is Tara Lazar's latest title: "7 Ate 9." Lazar has transformed this classic riddle into an improbable whodunit, featuring an all-star cast of large, brightly colored, walking, talking numbers. The pun-laden story, told in the voice of a hard-boiled private eye (played, naturally, by the letter I), involves the attention-seeking number 6 (a.k.a. The Client), who tries to pin a dreadful crime (cannibalism!) on the elusive number 9. Along the way there are supporting roles from Zero (shrewdly posing as an 8), and 11 (never far from 7) and ?, a waitress who serves pi. Yes, pi. If this seems a little complicated, well, it is, but in a stylish, film noir kind of way. Lazar's crisp, well-paced prose, combined with Ross MacDonald's dynamic illustrations, make the story a lot of fun to read, even if you have to backtrack to get your numbers straight. Think of it as a kid-friendly version of "The Maltese Falcon," only with larger than life-size numbers, and no cigarette smoke. In Susan Hood's "Double Take!" a boy, his cat and an elephant wander around the city, acting out the definitions of opposite words. It begins simply enough, with Jay Fleck's expert compositions showing the difference between left and right, asleep and awake. But soon the concept shifts, from basic opposites to explaining what makes an opposite an opposite. Scale, perspective and point of view all come into play. Hood's rhyming prose gradually builds to a scene of a wild roller coaster ride, where she asks the reader to "do a quick double take." Fleck's picture shows the cat tied to a helium balloon, but the cat is above and the balloon is below - a clue that proves that the right-side-up book is now upside down. It's a satisfying highlight to a stimulating book. Rebecca Van Slyke has created a brave young cowgirl/etymologist in "Lexie the Word Wrangler." Lexie lives "west of the Mississippi," where, along with corralling "cantankerous cattle," she can lasso words from thin air. It's a place where trees sprout "baby letters," which grow into multisyllabic words, which are tossed into stew pots and herded into sentences, which eventually become stories. In other words: an ideal location for a writer's retreat. However, all is not hunky-dory in this wordplay utopia. A "word rustler" is on the loose. He has removed the letter D from Lexie's "bandana," turning it - literally - into a "banana." Worse yet, an extra S has transformed the "desert" into a giant "dessert." Lexie must track down this scoundrel and "bring him to justice." Jessie Hartland's artwork is playful and bright, and she does a valiant job integrating the wacky wordplay with the plot. This isn't an edge-of-your-seat western, but the book is packed with puns, twists of words and vintage cowboy dialect kids will enjoy imitating. A similar rascal is at work in Bill Richardson's "The Alphabet Thief." This longnosed, masked bandit is on a nefarious mission, starting with the letter A. Following the logic of "Lexie," when a letter, like B, is stolen, "bowls" become "owls," "brats" are turned into "rats," and a dog named "Bill" becomes "ill." The story is told in brisk, rhyming stanzas, by a determined, redheaded sleuth. The wordplay is fun - a "chair" becomes "hair," a "fox" turns into an "ox" - though some examples are a visual stretch. Throughout, Roxanna Bikadoroff's lively spot illustrations deftly keep pace as the altered words pile up. In the end, the redhead prevails, with a unique weapon; a Y-shaped slingshot that fires Z's. Don't worry, there is no bloodshed. Just swift and punitive sleep. In Ivan Brunetti's "Wordplay," a schoolteacher assigns her class a homework assignment: to create a list of compound words. Somebody suggests "homesick," and a picture shows a sad-faced house with a thermometer in its mouth. "Housefly" is seen as a house with wings. One student, fittingly named Annemarie, becomes obsessed. She looks for compound words everywhere around her, even where they don't exist. Brunetti's use of simple, sequential cartoons turns this basic exercise into a brief, but delightful story. Each of these books, though different in style and sensibility, is designed to spark a curiosity in language. They prove that whether it's chasing after a riddle, stealing alphabet letters or defining an opposite, the picture book is an ideal stage for the play of words. ? JON AGEE is the author and illustrator of many picture books, including "Milo's Hat Trick" and "Terrific," which will both be reissued in September.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [July 30, 2017]
Review by Booklist Review
A young boy, a black cat, and a blue elephant creatively demonstrate the concept of opposites. While standing on a street corner, the trio starts with some basic opposites, demonstrating yes versus no, stop versus go, left versus right, and open versus closed. The boy's wagon and a hammock help them show in versus out and asleep versus awake. They explain that contrasting items may be dependent on each other there is no short without tall. The relativeness of opposites is demonstrated with examples like weak (the boy) versus strong (the elephant), reexamined when a whale shows up, making the elephant look weak in comparison. The brief rhyming text sets a playful tone, which is heightened by the cartoon-style digital illustrations. The pages feature uncluttered and alluring venues in a limited assortment of soft colors, populated mostly with appealing animals that help the trio demonstrate the various concepts. While some notions may be confusing for younger ones, the simplicity and humorous touches make this engaging, useful, and fun a winning combination.--Enos, Randall Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-A clever young boy, his small black cat, and a gentle blue elephant set off on an adventure to explore opposites in this wonderful concept book with a twist. The trio begin with some basic pairs, such as "yes and no" and "asleep and awake," but then explain that "not every duo is so black and white." Readers are presented with opposites that may seem simple but whose meanings can change depending on the situation. We see how relative words such as near and far and big and small can be, and the team suggest that "who's strong and who's weak is hardly perplexing. But strong can look weak when a new champ is flexing." Through rhyming text, this unassuming picture book clearly conveys the concept of perspective ("where you are can affect what you see") and advises readers to "consider all sides": a powerful and timely message. The classic sans serif black font injects some fun into the retro-style digital illustrations. VERDICT Charming details make this book a pleasure to revisit. Highly recommended for school and classroom libraries.-Whitney LeBlanc, KIPP New Orleans Schools, LA © Copyright 2017. 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 Kirkus Book Review
A white child, a black cat, and a friendly blue elephant give a fresh new twist to the concept of opposites. Humorous vignettes in a flat, limited color palette show the elephant "IN" the cart and falling "OUT!" of the cart; "ASLEEP" in the hammock, then suddenly "AWAKE!" when a balloon bursts; sitting with boy and cat during the color-saturated day, and, in a mirror image, their black-and-white silhouette at night. Type placement and illustrations are carefully coordinated to demonstrate relative points of view: a plane in the sky can appear to be below a car on a hill; the hare is only "FAST" in comparison with the tortoise, which is "S L O W ." The elephant appears to be the strongest in the pictureuntil readers realize it is standing on an enormous whale. Readers are encouraged not to take things at first glance: an abstract composition of colored circles turns into a huge painting of a butterfly when viewed from a distance. "What is ABOVE / and what is BELOW?"it all depends on one's perspective. "Turn things around! Give them a twist. / FIND a new view / that you might have MISSED!" The elephant and the child in a boat turn to face the land and see a beautiful urban landscape lit by the setting sun. Ideal for the thoughtful, deliberative child. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
