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Friday, July 13, 2012

Picture book mini-reviews, part 10

Biscuit Plays Ball
by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, illustrated by Pat Schories
HarperCollins
March 2012

I think I just took 15 points of cute damage, from this ridiculously adorable puppy. The story is fairly slight; Biscuit rambunctiously punctures a kickball, forcing the kids to switch to a whiffle ball game instead. Cuuuuuute.

I borrowed this book from the library.

Secret Agent Splat
by Rob Scotton
HarperCollins
March 2012

Splat wants to solve the mystery of why his ducks' bills are going missing. The story didn't make a lot of sense - many of the characters just pop in with very little introduction, but then again, I haven't really followed the series. I loved Splat's rambling notes on his "cunning plan" to catch the culprit. There's a fun "top secret" duck code on the end pages that I think kids will dig.

I borrowed this book from the library.

Night, Knight
by Owen Davey
Templar
January 2012

Absolutely charming. A colander-helmeted little boy has an imaginative bedtime, transforming ordinary bedtime rituals into "a great adventure." A bath becomes a a swim past wildlife in the moat, brushing teeth becomes a dodge past alligators. The book is illustrated with a limited palette of orange, brown and blue, giving it a mildly retro feel.

I purchased this book.

Dad Does it All
by Paul Orshaski, illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler
Treasure Bay
December 2011

Ugh. That's nearly all I have to say about this one. Here's a dad who is so out of it, he puts Papa Berenstain to shame. The bumbling dad of this story manages to make a complete mess of things when mom is sick with a cold. "My dad stayed home the other day. My mom was sick. Her throat was gray." After a day of total incompetence, "He hung some shirts out on the line. They blew away - and some were mine! Then as we chased them in the yard, Dad said, 'I never worked so hard.' It's the kid who finally saves the day - by ordering pizza so they can eat after Dad's burned the roast. Appended with phonics activities for parents to do with their children.

I borrowed this book from the library.

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