Day: October 23, 2014

Review: The Book with No Pictures by BJ Novak

| Tasha

book with no pictures

The Book with No Pictures by B. J. Novak

No pictures?  In a picture book?  Is it still a picture book?  Is it still for preschoolers?  The answer is a resounding yes!  And even better, this is a book filled with words and no images that preschoolers will delight in.  First, the audience is told that the rule with reading a book aloud is that the reader has to say everything that is on the page, whether they like it or not.  Even if the words are nonsense, even if they have to be sung, even if they insult themselves.  Completely silly, this picture book is filled with funny things the reader has to say aloud and then clever asides about what the reader is thinking to themselves.

Novak understands child humor wonderfully.  Reading this book to a group of preschoolers will be a delight, particularly when they realize that the author has you under their control.  Play up your dismay at having to be silly and you will have the children rolling with laughter.  Novak walks the line perfectly here, never taking the joke too far into being mean, but keeping it just naughty enough to intrigue youngsters to listen closely. 

This is one of those picture books that you save to end a story time, since it is guaranteed to keep the attention of the entire group of children.  It’s a winner!  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial.

Review: The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents: Macbeth by Ian Lendler

| Tasha

stratford zoo macbeth

The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents: Macbeth by Ian Lendler, illustrated by Zack Giallongo

When the gates shut at night at The Stratford Zoo, the animals come out to play.  They steal the keys from one of the zoo keepers as they leave and all of the cages are unlocked.  Vendors walk the aisles selling treats like peanuts and earthworms to the growing crowd.  Then on stage, the theater begins with the lion as Macbeth.  After meeting with the witches, the question is whether Macbeth will eat the king.  Lady Macbeth proposes different preparations to make the king taste better, and Macbeth finally succumbs and eats the king.  But then, as with any Shakespearean tragedy, others must be eaten too.  This is a wild and wonderful combination of Shakespeare, hungers both human and animal, and plenty of humor.

Lendler takes great liberties with Shakespeare’s Macbeth.  He combines all of the moments that people remember in the play, from Lady Macbeth trying to wash out the spots of blood to the visits to the three witches and the way their predictions play out.  He also adds in lots of slapstick comedy, plenty of asides from the audience and actors, and also shortens the play substantially. 

Giallongo’s art is colorful and dramatic.  He plays up the drama of the ketchup stains, the growing stomach of the lion, and the ambitions of Lady Macbeth.  Comic moments are captured with plenty of humor visually.  This zoo is filled with fur, claws, fun and drama.

A perfect combination of Shakespeare and wild animal humor, this will please those who know Macbeth and people knew to the play alike.  Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from copy received from First Second.