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Bloch, Serge
4 Reviews
(4)
K-3
In this story, about a boy's fear that Santa Claus will be deterred by a snowstorm, each page spotlights one idiom (he helped his sister "trim the tree..." / "...and deck the halls"). Cursory sketchlike illustrations of people commingle with what appear to be color photos reflecting each idiom's literal meaning. There's some fun to be had, but Peggy Parish handled the conceit better.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(4)
K-3
Bloch uses over two dozen food-related expressions in this entertaining, if contrived, story about a boy who learns to be a more adventurous eater. ("My mother says it drives her bananas to see me eat like a bird.") Cleverly combining photographs with pen-and-ink drawings, the quirky art provides a comically literal illustration for each figure of speech.
Reviewer: Martha Sibert
(4)
K-3
About two-dozen cumulatively tiresome clichés about life ("You might feel like a fish out of water or like a small fish in a big pond") make up this volume. There's an element of much-welcome tongue-in-cheek fun in the minimalist line drawings, which are cleverly augmented by spot photographs.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(4)
K-3
A boy faces his fears, expressed as figures of speech, on his first day of school. Though the language conceit doesn't work seamlessly, clear presentation will help readers see the humor of having a "long face" or being "all ears," as captured in tableaux of simple pen-and-ink line illustrations and color photographs.
Reviewer: Beth L. Meister
4 reviews
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