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juushikaGrouped for being weird picture books, I suppose! And, unfortunately, for being of middling success.
Title: The Rabbit Problem
Author: Emily Gravett
Published: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2010
Rating: 2.5 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 379,375
Text Number: 1414
Read Because: reading the author, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Strange is what I want from Gravett, but this book's strange doesn't work for me. It's Fibonacci's rabbit problem in a weirdly literal-but-fictional execution: rabbits massively overpopulating a field ... and also knitting ill-formed sweaters and buying carrot seeds from a catalog. It's an uncanny valley that makes you think about interbreeding and the actual impact of feral animal populations without remotely resolving those issues, obviously, because it's a picture book, and a gleefully silly one.
The inset elements are fun! The momentum building up to the dynamic, massive pop-up page is great. This isn't bad, it just doesn't land.
Title: The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse
Author: Mac Barnett
Illustrator: Jon Klassen
Published: Candlewick Press, 2017
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 379,610
Text Number: 1420
Read Because: found on this list of picture books with dark humor, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This really doubles down on its absurdity, turning the kidlit-friendly premise of "I was eaten by a wolf but I'm okay" to "I was eaten by a wolf and now I'm living my fullest life, actually." Quirky, ridiculous, a little dark ... but not especially good or memorable. I like the texture but not the art style; I can't decide if the stylized dialog would be great fun read aloud or if it just feels affected.
Title: The Skull Alphabet Book
Author: Jerry Pallotta
Illustrator: Ralph Masiello
Published: Charlesbridge, 2002
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 380,170
Text Number: 1429
Read Because: discovered when looking for morbid picture books, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This is probably the first "morbid non-fiction, but make it a picture book" that I've encountered, and I dig the premise. It's an older-kids alphabet book, by virtue of content but also because it's dotted with teaching tidbits and turns the identity of the skulls into a mystery, inviting active learning. The illustrations are richly detailed, classically staged oil paintings. But the humor doesn't land, the skulls aren't that varied (probably in the effort to make sure they're recognizable), and the hidden picture American Presidents are wildly out of place and unwanted. A weird little book, I'm glad to've checked it out, but I wish it were better.
Title: The Rabbit Problem
Author: Emily Gravett
Published: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2010
Rating: 2.5 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 379,375
Text Number: 1414
Read Because: reading the author, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Strange is what I want from Gravett, but this book's strange doesn't work for me. It's Fibonacci's rabbit problem in a weirdly literal-but-fictional execution: rabbits massively overpopulating a field ... and also knitting ill-formed sweaters and buying carrot seeds from a catalog. It's an uncanny valley that makes you think about interbreeding and the actual impact of feral animal populations without remotely resolving those issues, obviously, because it's a picture book, and a gleefully silly one.
The inset elements are fun! The momentum building up to the dynamic, massive pop-up page is great. This isn't bad, it just doesn't land.
Title: The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse
Author: Mac Barnett
Illustrator: Jon Klassen
Published: Candlewick Press, 2017
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 379,610
Text Number: 1420
Read Because: found on this list of picture books with dark humor, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This really doubles down on its absurdity, turning the kidlit-friendly premise of "I was eaten by a wolf but I'm okay" to "I was eaten by a wolf and now I'm living my fullest life, actually." Quirky, ridiculous, a little dark ... but not especially good or memorable. I like the texture but not the art style; I can't decide if the stylized dialog would be great fun read aloud or if it just feels affected.
Title: The Skull Alphabet Book
Author: Jerry Pallotta
Illustrator: Ralph Masiello
Published: Charlesbridge, 2002
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 380,170
Text Number: 1429
Read Because: discovered when looking for morbid picture books, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This is probably the first "morbid non-fiction, but make it a picture book" that I've encountered, and I dig the premise. It's an older-kids alphabet book, by virtue of content but also because it's dotted with teaching tidbits and turns the identity of the skulls into a mystery, inviting active learning. The illustrations are richly detailed, classically staged oil paintings. But the humor doesn't land, the skulls aren't that varied (probably in the effort to make sure they're recognizable), and the hidden picture American Presidents are wildly out of place and unwanted. A weird little book, I'm glad to've checked it out, but I wish it were better.
