When Mr. Billingsly leaves the bathwater running and locks himself out of the house, Edward the fish finally gets the vacation he has been longing for. As the water rises and fills the house, Edward swims from his fishbowl and begins to explore. He cleverly rids himself of Mr. B's 14 hungry cats—who can't swim—and then makes some rules for his new domain. First and foremost, Edward is the boss. He has a run-in with a fat cat who hangs around for a bite of seafood, but he escapes and once again rules his roost. Then Mr. B returns with the fire department and the mayor, who want to save his house. Mr. B asks them not to break down the door, to spare Edward's life and dignity (the shame of being caught in a net!) and he can see no alternative but to find a new place to live, since he can't swim. Edward thinks of life without his friend and decides that a vacation is nice, but Mr. B is more important, so he settles into his bowl and pulls the bathtub plug. Home alone with a piscine twist from newcomer Sincic. Kids will relate to Edward's initial frustration, his first intoxicating flush of freedom, and his final realization that ``the best part of vacation is coming home again.'' (Illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8050-3491-9
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1994
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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When Bibi, her first and favorite babysitter, moves away, it takes all of August for 8-year-old Eleanor to get beyond her sense of loss and get used to a new caretaker. Her parents grieve, too; her mother even takes some time off work. But, as is inevitable in a two-income family, eventually a new sitter appears. Natalie is sensible and understanding. They find new activities to do together, including setting up a lemonade stand outside Eleanor’s Brooklyn apartment building, waiting for Val, the mail carrier, and taking pictures of flowers with Natalie’s camera. Gradually Eleanor adjusts, September comes, her new teacher writes a welcoming letter, her best friend returns from summer vacation and third grade starts smoothly. Best of all, Val brings a loving letter from Bibi in Florida. While the story is relatively lengthy, each chapter is a self-contained episode, written simply and presented in short lines, accessible to those still struggling with the printed word. Cordell’s gray-scale line drawings reflect the action and help break up the text on almost every page. This first novel is a promising debut. Eleanor’s concerns, not only about her babysitter, but also about playmates, friends and a new school year will be familiar to readers, who will look forward to hearing more about her life. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8109-8424-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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When your computer powers down, the little “dot” is off-duty. You don’t think it just sits there, do you?
In this tipsy flight from Steadman, originally published overseas in 2000, the tidy dot on the first page is quickly transformed into mad splotches of black sporting googly eyes. It zooms through cyberspace to have tea—or, rather ink (“I LOVE INK!”)—with “my friend the Duchess of Amalfi,” and then goes off to spatter the besieging Duke of Bogshott and his white-uniformed army. Serving largely as an excuse for the illustrator to wield pen and brush ever more ferociously across a series of spreads, this free-associative plotline culminates with an invitation to attend the wedding of the duke and duchess as “Best Dot” (“I was so excited I made a mess on her carpet”) and a quick return home: “And here I am, ready to work for you again—dot dot dot.” As a clever riff on the internet, this doesn’t hold a pixel to Randi Zuckerberg and Joel Berger’s Dot. (2013) or Goodnight iPad by “Ann Droid” (2011), and the illustrator’s whacked-out mite isn’t going to take young readers on the sort of imagination-stretching artistic rides that Peter Reynolds’ The Dot (2003) or Hervé Tullet’s Press Here (2011) offer. But it does at least dispense exuberantly unrestrained permission to paint outside the lines.
The artist’s fans might key in, but most young readers will be left in the dark. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-56792-520-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Godine
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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