never rises to the level of mayhem or fun it aspires to. The cumulative portion of the tale loses rhyme, rhythm and logic six pages before it ends. Retz’s Photoshop paintings are bright, wide-eyed and goofy, but they can’t add enough fun to compensate for the lackluster text. Great gobs of glue should be more fun than this. (Picture book. 4-7)
THE KING OF LITTLE THINGS
Lepp, Bil Illus. by Wenzel, David T. Peachtree (32 pp.) $16.95 | Sep. 1, 2013 978-1-56145-708-3 Don’t underestimate the power and importance of small things. Trouble is brewing: Insatiably greedy King Normous wants to be king of the whole world. His giant army ruthlessly conquers every other kingdom and empire. He is happy until he learns of the existence of his polar opposite, “His Miniscule Majesty…the King of Little Things.” Now he won’t rest until he has conquered that realm as well. The little king is content among his small things, such as insects, coins and buttons, and he is not as weak as Normous believes. He involves all his very loyal subjects, those little things, to help repel the invasion, and King Normous’ little things mutiny to join them. Naturally, there is a happy ending for everyone, except King Normous, of course, who is plagued by small things forever. Rich, imagefilled language, including several rhythmic lists—“He raided realms. He squashed sovereignties. He eradicated empires”— emphasizes the two characters’ opposing life views and highlights their battles. The tale moves briskly, with high drama and gentle humor, and allows readers to find the moral naturally. Wenzel’s watercolor illustrations are in perfect harmony with the text, in both detail and tone. Endpapers depict an assortment of small things that can be found within the illustrations, encouraging further examination. Adults and children who read this delightful and imaginative book together will find lots to talk about. (Picture book. 4-9)
THE BOY ON THE WOODEN BOX How the Impossible Became Possible...on Schindler’s List
Leyson, Leon with Harran, Marilyn J. and Leyson, Elisabeth B. Atheneum (240 pp.) $16.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-1-4424-9781-8
Completed before his death in January 2013, Leyson’s narrative opens with glowing but not falsely idyllic childhood memories of growing up surrounded by friends and relatives in the Polish village of Narewka and then the less intimate but still, to him, marvelous city of Kraków. The Nazi occupation brought waves of persecution and forced removals to first a ghetto and then a labor camp—but since his father, a machinist, worked at the enamelware factory that Schindler opportunistically bought, 14-year-old “Leib” (who was so short he had to stand on the titular box to work), his mother and two of his four older siblings were eventually brought into the fold. Along with harrowing but not lurid accounts of extreme privation and casual brutality, the author recalls encounters with the quietly kind and heroic Schindler on the way to the war’s end, years spent at a displacedpersons facility in Germany and, at last, emigration to the United States. Leyson tacks just a quick sketch of his adult life and career onto the end and closes by explaining how he came to break his long silence about his experiences. Family photos (and a picture of the famous list with the author’s name highlighted) add further personal touches to this vivid, dramatic account. Significant historical acts and events are here put into unique perspective by a participant. (Memoir. 11-14)
THE BIG WET BALLOON
Liniers Illus. by Liniers TOON/Candlewick (32 pp.) $12.95 | Sep. 10, 2013 978-1-935179-32-0
There are so many things to do when it rains! Hooray! It’s Saturday. But wait—it’s raining. What are two sisters to do? Older sibling Matilda is absolutely full of ideas and ready to lead younger Clemmie on a grand adventure. What will they do first? It all begins with rain boots and entails a very special red balloon, a wink to the classic book and film. Celebrated Argentine cartoonist Liniers offers a warm visual welcome to early readers in this graphic novel; lively watercolors in comic format provide plenty of memorable images and details to examine and savor. The gentle humor and mild suspense will quickly draw readers in, while brief sentences and appropriately challenging vocabulary, flawlessly interwoven with pictures that provide visual cues, leave room for readers to decipher, consider and comprehend. Natural repetition allows for practice. Overall, this satisfying tale captures the camaraderie of two sisters and shows how the oldest doesn’t always have the answers. Now, what will the girls do on Sunday? Achoo! Uh-oh…. An excellent example of how well comics can work for early readers, this warm and accessible story is sure to be a favorite. (Early reader. 4-7)
A posthumous Holocaust memoir from the youngest person on Oskar Schindler’s list. 96
|
1 august 2013
|
children ’s
&
teen
|
kirkus.com
|