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Ross, Tony
22 Reviews
(3)
K-3
Little Princess series.
The Little Princess considers her dad a royal killjoy: he doesn't bake as well as the cook, swim like the admiral, etc. She realizes the king's value only after suffering through cooking, swimming, and other lessons with the maid. Ross continues a successful streak with this latest comic drama for his Little Princess, whose relatability shines through in the chipper, featherweight art.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(3)
K-3
This time around, the Little Princess starts school, where making friends is a royal challenge ("We don't want to play with YOU"). But when her group of social outcasts outnumbers the excluders... This is yet another winner from Ross, whose light hand produces endlessly appealing illustrations embedded with gags, as when the Little Princess hangs up her "hat" (crown) at school.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(3)
K-3
The "kid" in question is a goat, who is always late to school. The tale he tells his teacher includes wild adventures with a submarine, an elephant, crocodiles, and "dinopirates." He is sent to the Naughty Corner for lying until aliens arrive and corroborate his story. Using fanciful wordplay and joke-infused illustrations, this satisfying kid-fantasy is amusing and silly.
Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee
(3)
K-3
Little Princess series.
One summer day, the Little Princess learns about snow and wants some, "NOW!" Despite her minders' efforts to please her--they build her a stone snowman, a "snowcastle" with sand, etc.--she consigns herself to her bed "forever!... Or at least until it snows." Somehow, Ross hasn't yet run out of fresh scenarios for his beguilingly bratty princess. His droll art retains its signature propriety-threatening conviviality.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(3)
K-3
"I didn't do it!" the Little Princess says each time she's accused of a misdeed, from muddying the castle floor to stealing the bell off the prime minister's tricycle. Could it be that for once she is blameless? Ross continues to craft fresh story lines for his frill-averse royal protagonist; meanwhile, hilarious illustrations show the castle elders as amiably buffoonish figures.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(3)
K-3
The Little Princess goes on sleep strike when her father is away; no one in the castle can tell a bedtime story as well as the king. Ross remains invigorated by his feisty young subject, delivering great lines ("These aren't stories...they're books") and witty visual gags: illustrations inside dialogue balloons show how wretched the castle staff is at telling stories.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(3)
K-3
The Little Princess is sick when it's time to go to school, clean the cat box, and so on. Miraculously, she recovers when it's time to go to a birthday party, where she gets her comeuppance. As usual with this satisfyingly nonchalant series, there's no more than two lines of text below each illustration, allowing the visual humor to reign.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(4)
K-3
Rita desperately wants a pet, and she isn't satisfied by her family-approved options of a flea and a tadpole. So the enterprising little girl heads to the zoo and adopts a rhinoceros, which proves to be as impractical as you'd imagine. The ending is abrupt and underwhelming, but Ross's signature light-handed watercolors with lots of subtle humor pull the story through.
Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen
(3)
K-3
The queen buys a bigger castle, and the Little Princess is royally peeved. When her mother lets her peek at their old place, now owned by the Duke of Somewhereorother, the princess changes her tune. Ross continues to find engagingly relatable scenarios for his rugged princess, injecting his art with can't-fail humor (see the little prince on his training potty).
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(3)
K-3
When Little Princess learns that she must go to the hospital, she runs (and hides) from the inevitable; afterward, confronted with a messy bedroom to clean, she misses the hospital's royal treatment. This series' premise--a tomboyish princess with down-to-earth parents and real-kid problems--is still going strong many books in, and this offering's gag-filled illustrations are among Ross's best.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(3)
K-3
When the Little Princess learns that she's about to become a big sibling but not necessarily to a sister, she grumbles about boys' shortcomings ("Brothers are rough"); readers will see in the witty art that every criticism could be leveled at her. Ross is a pro: the princess's parents have the perfect explanation when they bring home a little prince.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(3)
K-3
Suzy misbehaves constantly, prompting her family members to exclaim "Drat that cat!" But after Suzy (supposedly) falls ill, they bend over backward to show their affection and concern. The text expertly paces Suzy's outrageous behavior, her decline into "illness," and her family's over-the-top coddling for a surprise ending. Scribbly pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations capture Suzy's utterly feline self-satisfaction at outsmarting her humans.
Reviewer: Katie Bircher
(4)
K-3
Little Princess wants to win at everything, but her cousin wins the math trophy, Polly wins the painting trophy, etc. One last little trophy is reserved for the one who has tried the hardest, and for this no one can beat the Little Princess. The best-efforts-win message is contrived, but Ross's wacky pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations are entertaining as usual.
Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden
(3)
K-3
Presumably because of her mother's doting--documented on these color-drenched pages with wit and warmth--Little Princess eventually has the confidence to go it alone at Little Duchess's sleepover. (It's out-of-sight Mom who cries at book's end, "I WANT MY LITTLE PRINCESS!") This endearing comedy is actually saying something serious about the uniqueness of the parent-child bond.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(3)
K-3
Refusing all assistance, Little Princess sets off on a solo camping trip. Various castle help follow, secretly providing all the key items (tent, food, sleeping bag) she has forgotten, leading the princess to believe that she fared pretty well on her own. Ross's expressive bright and humorous illustrations depict the rather unpleasant protagonist's relatable quest for independence.
Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden
(4)
K-3
In her latest outing, Little Princess and her staff prepare to throw a spectacular party, but on the big day she realizes that she forgot to send out invitations. While the coincidence-dependent resolution detracts from the capably told story, Ross's energetic watercolors are full of good gags.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(4)
K-3
As the Little Princess grapples with bedtime fears, a series of inept adults attempt to comfort her. Ross's saturated watercolors play with light and shadow to reinforce the simple text. While the princess's sudden emotional shift from scared to capable may confuse young readers, they'll enjoy the comical conclusion, as a young ghost's mother assures him there's "NO such thing as little girls."
Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby
(3)
K-3
Little Princess stars again in a book about a popular subject. The greedy royal girl wants to know why her mother has two birthdays and then demands to have two for herself. At her insistence, the Prime Minister plans a birthday every day, but her wise father the king finds a clever solution. Filled with satirical moments, the watercolor illustrations add to the madcap comedy.
Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt
(3)
K-3
In this purposeful but thought-provoking book, the narrator wonders about a boy called Wally. "Is it because he hasn't a dog? / Is it because he's as thick as a log?" Curiosity piqued, the reader finally discovers the original question behind all the speculation: why is Wally such a bully? Humor lightens the serious mood of the rhyming questions and energetic illustrations.
Reviewer: Martha Sibert
(3)
K-3
A centipede stubs his toe, so his mother buys him one hundred protective shoes. But putting on and removing the shoes takes all day, and he learns the hard way that "most centipedes have only forty-two legs." Finally, he gives away his shoes to some friends (not exclusively of the legged variety). The loose, cartoony illustrations of bug society underscore the humor in the hapless centipede's plight.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam
22 reviews
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