Review by New York Times Review
Young children will delight in these sweetly charming summertime picture books. SMILEY'S DREAM BOOK Written and illustrated by Jeff Smith Smith's capacious imagination takes flight, literally, in this picture book starring the happy-go-lucky, slightly dim Smiley Bone from the iconic Bone graphic novel series. Smiley takes a walk in the woods, counting the birds he sees, and finds himself flying, too. There's a suspenseful turn, and a surprise ending when he wakes and realizes it was all a dream. If you plan to steer a child toward the Bone books later (and you should!), this is a terrific introduction to a world full of wonder and unexpected rewards. 32 pp. Scholastic. $17.99. (Ages 2 to 6) THE SANDCASTLE THAT LOLA BUILT By Megan Maynor. Illustrated by Kate Berube. The joys of a day at the beach - along with those inevitable moments of frustration, too - are packed into this story of a girl building a sandcastle. There's a "dude with a Frisbee" who at first steps right on it, then helps fix it. There's a little guy with a bulldozer and a girl from Minnesota who end up helping, too. There's the wave that wipes their masterpiece away, and then the sweet moment of realizing they've formed a spontaneous "we" and can start building again. Berube's delightful paintand-collage illustrations capture an easy, playful beach mood, with a hint of mystery in the ocean and sky. 32 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $17.99. (Ages 2 to 6) DUDE! By Aaron Reynolds. Illustrated by Dan Santat. So much action and humor, so few words - just one, in fact (see the title), written in capitals or lowercase, in speech bubbles, or streeeeetched out. Expressed in the cheerfully bonkers illustrations by Santat, a Caldecott medalist, "Dude!" tells the story of a platypus and a beaver who go surfing together and meet a shark. A friendly one, it turns out, who wants to catch some waves with them: "Dude...?" he offers when they meet. More than half the fun, of course, is in reading this book out loud. Be ready for even the youngest kids to "read" it, too. 40 pp. Neal Porter/Roaring Brook. $17.99. (Ages 4 to 8) PIE IS FOR SHARING By Stephanie Parsley Ledyard. Illustrated by Jason Chin. A book about sharing doesn't sound like much fun, but this one takes all the sting out. Ledyard's spare text is a poetic ode to things that are easy to share (a ball, a climbing tree, a story, a hideout), with an acknowledgment of one that's hard (a best friend). Chin's sublime watercolor and gouache illustrations, a master class in visual storytelling, follow a group of family and friends on a daylong picnic near the beach. Once the sun starts setting it's clear this is the Fourth of July, adding even greater resonance - a nation is, after all, above all a shared idea. 40 pp. Neal Porter/Roaring Brook. $17.99. (Ages 2 to 6) 40 pp. Candlewick. $16.99. (Ages 3 to 7) GOLDFISH ON VACATION By Sally Lloyd-Jones. Illustrated by Leo Espinosa. Enjoying summer in the city requires ingenuity, as this entertaining tale - based on reallife events - shows. Three siblings glumly pass time in their hot Manhattan apartment until the broken fountain down the street gets cleaned up and a sign suddenly appears on it, inviting goldfish to take a vacation. A neighborhood hangout is born, as all the residents stop by to visit their fish. Espinosa's sunny illustrations are a visual party. The only downer, we learn in a note, is that once the fountain was fixed for good, the goldfish summer vacations ended. 40 pp. Schwartz & Wade/Random House. $16.99. (Ages 4 to 8) SUN Written and illustrated by Sam Usher "Rain" and "Snow" came first in this series of stories about a boy who's stuck at home with his grandpa in all kinds of weather. Now it's a scorching summer day, and as in the previous books, the delicately handled subtext is that it takes patience and imagination to navigate the generational divide and get through the long hours. The pair "gather their provisions" and go for a walk, which the boy pictures as crossing the desert. Then they stop at a pirate's cove, picnicking with a merry band of buccaneers. Usher's jaunty visual style is a mash-up of two British greats, Quentin Blake and John Burningham. SAFFRON ICE CREAM Written and illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh When a little girl named Rashin is on her way to the beach in Brooklyn for the first time, she remembers what it was like to go to the beach when her family lived in Iran, where the men's and women's sections were strictly separated (severe-looking burka-clad ladies patrol) and saffron ice cream was her favorite treat. With her colorful, exuberant folk-art illustrations and upbeat, friendly tone, Rashin makes a daunting cross-cultural leap seem as easy as a summer breeze. 40 pp. Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic. $17.99. (Ages 4 to 8) THE GRAND EXPEDITION Written and illustrated by Emma Adbage There are those (like me) who feel that "camping out" in the backyard is a high point of childhood adventure, and this adorable book from Sweden confirms it. Two small siblings inform their dad of their plans, and after gathering their supplies they pitch a tent and hunker down. No, they don't make it through the whole night out there, but does that even matter? With winsome mixedmedia illustrations that capture all the most telling details, and a fine-tuned ear for the way kids think and talk, Adbage understands the fun that can be found in a child's everyday reality. 40 pp. Enchanted Lion. $16.95. (Ages 4 to 8) maria russo is the children's books editor of the Book Review.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [April 7, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* A platypus and a beaver head out for a day of surfing, and despite the warning signs posted on the rocky shore and an unexpected addition to their duo, they have a hilarious and rollicking adventure using just one word, over and over: Dude. The consummately entertaining story line encourages not judging a book by its cover (nor a shark by its fins), and recalls all the summer sweetness of making a new friend at the beach. And then there's the art. Caldecott medalist Santat makes the book shine with great skill in pacing and perspective, and the characters' expressions, the action-packed layout, and the dynamic fonts are a win-win-win. It's incredible how much emotion can be milked from a single well-illustrated word. They range from a thin black-lined dude? to a rainbow-colored DUUUDE! and the drama, humor, personalities, conflicts, and resolutions come through fantastically. From spot art on white pages to full-bleed spreads to comic-style panels, there's a lot to see, multitudes of meaning in a single syllable, a plethora of educational applicability, and oh so much fun to be had, dude.--Medlar, Andrew Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The versatile word dude can act as a question, a warning, or an exclamation of delight, and Reynolds (Creepy Pair of Underwear!) uses it all of these ways and more as the single spoken word of his story. A platypus and a beaver almost jump out of their board shorts when a shark surfaces in the waves behind them. "Duuuuude!" they shriek. But the shark wants to be friends, and it speaks their language: "Dude...?" it ventures. The beaver paddles ashore and returns with an ice-cream cone with sprinkles; the platypus offers the shark a spare surfboard, which is even better. "Dude!" they chorus, catching the same wave. Santat (After the Fall) pours on the special effects, and the shark's massive body, double rows of teeth, and bathing suit (his tail fits through one leg, the other hangs empty) add danger-tinged comedy to every spread. It's a story about welcoming the stranger, but the many dopey laughs and Santat's panoply of goofy facial expressions deliver the message with sprinkles on top. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary Management. Illustrator's agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Two friends, a beaver and a platypus, have a big adventure in the sun and the surf. The largely visual story line repeatedly subverts readers expectations with sight gags. For example, the friends are excited to see a pelican in the sky until it poops on platypus' head. With the exception of the word splat for the pelican scene, the entire text of the book is either "dude" or "dudes" with different punctuation throughout. Working in tandem with the expressive illustrations, it is obvious that the single word can mean different things depending on the context. Fear overtakes the friends as they see a shark in the water. When the giant shark tries to approach, they paddle as fast as they can in the opposite direction. But when the shark catches up to them, he is crying and says, "dude.?" Quickly they all end up becoming good friends. VERDICT Score one for visual literacy with this wacky read-aloud adventure sure to make a splash in storytime and small group settings.-Robin Sofge, Prince William Public Library System, VA © Copyright 2018. 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
A platypus ("DUDE!") and a beaver ("DUDE!") hit the waves with their surfboards. When one spots a shark in the distance ("DUDE...?"), the surf buddies scramble for shore ("DUUUUUDE!"). "Dude" is a surprisingly malleable word, making it a good fit for a one-word (well, almost) yarn. The elastic facial expressions of the three main players in the colorful illustrations say everything the text can't. (c) Copyright 2018. 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
Once children can recognize and read the title, they will easily be able to navigate the rest of this book. "Dude!" is (almost) the only word uttered throughout the story. Sometimes it is printed in large capital letters, sometimes in diminutive lowercase. The word may be surrounded by a jagged speech bubble, stretched out with five U's, spoken by one or many, or decorated with sprinkles, but part of the fun of this picture book with graphic-novel overtones is interpreting the proper intonation from the context. A platypus and a beaver are the first two friends to call out to each other as they race to the beach, surfboards at the ready. After an encounter with sea-gull droppings (heralded with one of the few additional words: "SPLAT!"), a shark is spotted. It is cajoled with ice cream, so the nervous duo's chorus is soon voiced by an exultant trio. Santat varies the page design to pace the over-the-top emotions and action, employing diagonally framed panels, cameos, small insets, and full-bleed double-page spreads. Disaster occurs at the rocks, and if observant readers hadn't noticed the warning sign at the story's opening, subsequent readings will reveal this foreshadowing and other clever details. The three dudes resolve the damage, ultimately sharing a sweet denouement under the sunset. Surprises, mayhem, potty humor, sharks, and ice cream: What's not to like? (Picture book. 4-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
