Liniers continues his run of clever comics for kids, with a fun adventure and panels full of easy-to-follow action....
After a day full of play with her toy fawn, Planet, a little blonde white girl drifts off to sleep—and Planet is off to play for the night.
Once the toy is downstairs, it hears a sound it can’t identify and becomes so frightened it passes out. Coming to, it sees it’s the family dog, a spaniel named Elliot, and though the toy is relieved, the calm doesn’t last long, as Elliot chases Planet and, catching the toy, gives it a playful, vigorous shake. They decide to go to the kitchen for a snack of cookies, where they meet a friendly rat called Bradley, who takes them on a new adventure to capture the biggest cookie they’ve ever seen. After their big adventure, Planet gets a few hours of sleep before they’re up to play again. Liniers has a gift for wordless storytelling through his art-only panels, using muted tones in watercolor under skillfully drawn pen-and-ink lines that create thin outlines and heavy areas of shading. The lettering is distinct and whimsical, and the lines of dialogue are funny, conveying Planet’s personality as patient, kind, and quick-witted. The Spanish-language version, Buenas Noches, Planeta, changes only Planet’s name, and though Liniers is Argentine, the Spanish is not localized to any one dialect, making it an easy inclusion in kids’ libraries and a perfect matched pair for kids who would benefit from the same book in English and Spanish.
Liniers continues his run of clever comics for kids, with a fun adventure and panels full of easy-to-follow action. Delightful. (Graphic fantasy. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943145-20-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: TOON Books & Graphics
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages.
Never underestimate the chaotic fun that magic and an angry bouncing ball can create.
When Frog goes to the library, he borrows a book on magic. He then heads to a nearby park to read up on the skills necessary to becoming “a great magician.” Suddenly, a deflated yellow ball lands with a “Thud!” at his feet. Although he flexes his new magician muscles, Frog’s spells fall as flat as the ball. But when Frog shouts “Phooey!” and kicks the ball away, it inflates to become a big, angry ball. The ball begins to chase Frog, so he seeks shelter in the library—and Frog and ball turn the library’s usual calm into chaos. The cartoon chase crescendos. The ball bounces into the middle of a game of chess, interrupts a puppet show, and crashes into walls and bookcases. Staying just one bounce ahead, Frog runs, hides, grabs a ride on a book cart, and scatters books and papers as he slides across the library furniture before an alligator patron catches the ball and kicks it out the library door. But that’s not the end of the ball….Caple’s tidy panels and pastel-hued cartoons make a surprisingly effective setting for the slapstick, which should have young readers giggling. Simple sentences—often just subject and verb—with lots of repetition propel the action. Frog’s nonsense-word spells (“Poof Wiffle, Bop Bip!”) are both funny and excellent practice in phonetics. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages. (Graphic early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4341-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
A visual and emotional symphony.
A tiger, with some unusual help, fights off a nightmare.
Tiger’s parents don’t quite believe that the reason she carries extra curry or tacos from the supper table to her bedroom is because she has a monster under her bed, but it’s true. Monster was supposed to scare her long ago, but instead they play together nightly. Then, while Tiger sleeps, Monster scares away Tiger’s horned, multieyed, centipedelike nightmares—until a nightmare with a long-jawed white skull and a changeable, smoky body arrives. It conquers Monster and reaches Tiger. From now on, Tiger and Monster must work together. The plans they implement are brilliant and brave, and their hard-won victory (it takes a few tries) couldn’t be more triumphant, relieving, or empowering. Compositions range from full-bleed spreads to pages holding multiple sequential panels. Using watercolors and pencils, Tetri creates one color-world of inky blues (Monster; nighttime) and another of oranges and yellows (Tiger; daytime). The meanings of each color-world hold nuance and complexity: The nightmares are of the blue world, but so are coziness and small, dear Monster; Tiger’s victory explodes with warm colors like dawn, but she could only achieve it at night. Rich details enhance the setting inconspicuously: Tiger’s parents, also tigers, run a repair shop for flying cars; one parent is Dad while the other is of undesignated gender.
A visual and emotional symphony. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62672-535-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
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