70. Turtle with a Toolbox. Beth Ferry. Illustrated by Dudolf. 2026. 32 pages. [Source: Library] [picture book, 3 stars]
First sentence: Turtle has a toolbox for a shell. It's filled with tools that he knows well. Here is his hammer. Bang. Bang. Bang. Here is his mallet. Clang. Clang. Clang.
Premise/plot: Turtle has a toolbox. He uses the tools in his toolbox. It is written in rhyme. It also uses a lot of repetition. Sometimes the repetition makes sense. Obviously, hammers are going to hammer more than once. Sometimes it is slightly annoying. Turtle must use his saw, saw, saw. Carry and stack the wood, wood, wood. Everything's looking good, good, good.
My thought: It was fine. It was okay. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. I have liked other Beth Ferry books more than this one. That being said, if your little one LOVES construction and building, then perhaps this one will be a good fit.
I do think I tend to overthink things. This one had me overthinking WHY a turtle would build a TREEHOUSE which would have him having to CLIMB LADDERS and CLIMB STAIRS. Will young readers be bothered by this? Well, it depends on the reader. But probably most readers won't. And the few it does bother, well, they are young overthinkers.
71. Cheeky Book of Bear Butts. Jonathan Fenske. 2026. 36 pages. [Source: Library] [picture book, 3 stars]
First sentence: This is a bear butt. This is a bare butt. This is a bare bear butt. There are all kinds of bears. And all kinds of bear butts. Cold bear butts. Old bear butts. Greasy, grimy Grizzly Bear butts. A giant panda has a giant butt but a spectacled bear does not have a spectacled butt!
Premise/plot: What you see IS what you get. In this case a lot of bear bare butts. It's gimmicky. It's silly. It's odd and quirky. It's of questionable taste. HOWEVER I think for those that love it, they will REALLY love it. And everyone else will roll their eyes.
My thoughts: I didn't love it. I wanted to at least like it some. I have loved, loved, loved some of Jonathan Fenske's books in the past. He's written picture books and early readers. Usually he makes me smile or laugh. I do think YOUNG readers with a particular sense of humor will find it enjoyable looking at all the bare bottoms AND getting to read the word butt EVERYWHERE. Plenty of jokes and puns. Just not particularly funny. Picture books ARE subjective. Your little one may love it. Particularly if saying "butt" makes them laugh.
72. The Secret Life of Dog Toys. Kelly Dipucchio. Illustrated by Jennifer Harney. 2026. 40 pages. [Source: Library] [picture book, 4 stars]
First sentence: Dog toys are genuinely excited to join a family. They were born to play, after all. But life for dog toys isn't always pretty. Or easy. Meet Moose. Goofy Moose. Clumsy Moose. Lovable Moose. Eighty-five-pounds-of-drool-and-smelly-toots Moose.
Premise/plot: Moose's dog toys have to team up to save Moose. Well, if they hadn't been trying to 'save' a fellow dog toy perhaps they might not have needed to have a rescue mission to save Moose--who escaped. But NO job is too big for these dog toys.
My thoughts: I liked this one. It was an adventure--fun, silly, enjoyable. A good choice for little ones that love dogs.
73. Starman: The Cosmic Voyage of David Bowie. Matthew Cordell. 2026. 48 pages. [Source: Library] [nonfiction biography for young readers, 3 stars]
First sentence: Once there was a traveler. An artist. A cosmic, celestial, musical artist who traveled far and wide, who searched for and discovered different people, places, and sounds.
Premise/plot: This is a nonfiction biography--illustrated biography--of David Bowie for children. Young children? Probably not. Older children? Maybe. Even older children? More likely. Would an illustrated biography appeal to upper elementary or younger middle grades when assigned to read a biography? Perhaps.
It isn't so much a biography of David Bowie the person as it is David Bowie the musical artist. The book attempts--for better or worse--to divide his musical career into different "periods" of being for David Bowie.
My thoughts: Matthew Cordell has a creative approach to writing this biography. The illustrations and text work together to tell a story. It has plenty of illustrations AND plenty of text. What the book lacks is clarity and precision. Dates--years--would go a LONG, LONG, LONG way in telling this story. If the author, you know, actually named YEARS, specific albums, specific SONGS on those albums. If the book focuses on his career--his legacy of career--and the theme is his transformation, his metamorphic changes from one sound to another--LITTLE details could go a long way so that readers could seek out his music, his albums, his song--know WHAT to look for and listen to for each "era" or "period" or "time." And actually FOLLOW the journey and engage with the book on a deeper level. Instead we have a creative, artistic approach to a biography that doesn't really HELP readers experience much. There is a "beginner's guide to David Bowie" but it doesn't link songs with eras--and the songs all seem to be from a few albums and not representative of his whole body of work. These songs are not necessarily representative they are just favorite songs of the author, Matthew Cordell.
I personally don't see the appeal as a work for children.
© 2026 Becky Laney of Young Readers
No comments:
Post a Comment