Endearing and good-hearted.
Based on a tale by the Sufi mystic Rumi, this oversized picture book adroitly calms a child’s fear of monsters through some creative parental problem-solving.
Young Amir, toothbrush in hand, stalls at bedtime, imagining a monster with huge teeth who doubtlessly wants to eat him. His dad suggests that Amir growl like a tiger to scare the monster away and offers to intervene with a frying pan—but Amir conjures up monster parents with a larger frying pan. The scenario escalates, with Amir’s mom intrepidly charging in with an umbrella and the monster parents retaliating. Finally, Amir's parents offer coffee and sweets to their counterparts; while they chat, Amir shares his toy cars with his new monster friend, Grobblechops. Thus appeased, Amir settles down for the night in his cozy bed, holding his teddy bear close. But his dad leaves the door open, just a little, to let “a bit of light” in. The kinesthetic, splattery quality of the illustrations draws young eyes to the story, and the slightly off-kilter orientation of many of the scenes adds a sense of appropriately disorienting whimsy. The reassurance offered by Amir’s parents proves a comforting salve for a common childhood anxiety. Amir and his parents have brown skin and black hair.
Endearing and good-hearted. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-910328-41-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiny Owl
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Funny though the illustrations are and loving though the text is, the book falls short due to lack of nuance.
Unabashed sentimentality dominates the text in this loving promise from a father to his child.
What saves this title from being just a syrupy pronouncement are the characters. Santat has good fun creating scenes for two hairy, horned monsters, the dad pickle green and the child a pleasing purple. The somewhat cuddly pair is comically shown participating in their less-than-ordinary activities like “having spaghetti for breakfast, French toast for dinner, and rocky road ice cream in the bathtub.” They play with robots, listen to really loud music, burp like champions and miss school to visit New York to share a hot dog. Readers will smile at the low-key humor in the pictures. The page stating, “Because I’m your dad, you can sometimes stay up late with me to watch TV” depicts the father asleep while the child sits on the sofa terrified by what is on the screen. Warm moments abound, as when little monster is rolled up by her father in a blanket like a burrito or when the dad checks the closet and under the bed for monsters. Zappa wrote this story for his daughter, and it overflows with genuine fatherly affection that he would like to pass on, since his father (avant-garde rocker Frank Zappa) did the same for him.
Funny though the illustrations are and loving though the text is, the book falls short due to lack of nuance. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: April 16, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4231-4774-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Leave this on the shelf and take the kids outside to really move.
An interactive board book promises a variety of experiences.
A book that gets kids up and moving sounds like a great idea. The half-circle cutout of the spine and large handle formed by another die cut on the right side are intriguing. Unfortunately, the rhyming instructions for using the book as an exercise prop are confusing. Even adults will find themselves puzzled when told to “paddle the floor,” or to “hang on the handles. Step over the book. / You're a turtle in its shell! Go peek out and look.” The busy pictures shift perspective according to each scenario presented but give few visual clues. For example, the only hint of a dinosaur on the page where readers are told to “put this book to your mouth and let out a roar” like a dinosaur are the teeth that line the edges of what is meant to be a gaping maw. It’s not always obvious whether the book is meant to be facing readers or turned away from them, adding another layer of confusion. Furthermore, many of the instructions run counter to how young children are typically taught to treat books, as when they are told to step on it and then waddle or to lift it with their feet. The relatively thin board pages and weak handles will soon be torn by normal handling; following the directions in the text will only hasten the destruction.
Leave this on the shelf and take the kids outside to really move. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-8733-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
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