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Novak, Matt
10 Reviews
(4)
PS
A man and a woman meet, fall in love, travel the world, but feel that something is missing--so the "two wished for you." The parent- and traditional-family-focused story line doesn't hold much child-appeal, but Novak's simple rhyming text and kid-friendly digital illustrations may win over some readers.
Reviewer: Kitty Flynn
(4)
K-3
From cleaning to cooking to back scratching, the Everything Machine does it all for the inhabitants of planet Quirk. When the machine breaks, the people are forced to rediscover the joys of doing for themselves. The didacticism of the story, extolling the merits and pleasures of labor, is counterbalanced by its humor. Clever illustrations portray the efforts of those returning to their vocations.
Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden
(3)
PS
When summer starts, everyone hurries to the Flip Flop Shop. They then bop through a pet store, to the beach, and even in the rain. Finally they "slippety slide" back home, trade in flip flops for bunny slippers, and flop into bed. With a rousing beat and increasingly silly rhymes, the story and its joyful illustrations celebrate the arrival of summer.
Reviewer: Patricia Riley
(2)
PS
In this there-and-back-again story, five bunnies, crowded into one hole, spy an empty hole across the field. One by one, the bunnies hop over to the empty one (with each page turn, the left-side die-cut hole gains one bunny and the right side loses one). Now the new hole is uncomfortably overpopulated, while the original is enticingly empty. Cartoony illustrations ramp up the humor.
Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
March, 2005
(2)
K-3
Witches Wizzle and Woddle find snapshots from last year's monster party documenting how badly various guests behaved. So this year they put up signs: e.g., "No Ghosts, Skeletons, or Vampires Allowed." They are just about to ban witches when they realize that they are the witches in the photos and that last year's party had been a blast. Novak's nonthreatening-looking witches keep the atmosphere congenial and light.
Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2002
(3)
K-3
I Can Read Book series.
Novak introduces a less-than-ferocious pair of wolves that relate their amicable ups and downs in this volume for beginning readers. The final episode, where Little Wolf invites his friends to a party and Big Wolf captures them for canapés, cleverly stretches the bonds of friendship and social propriety. Illustrations provide appropriate visual clues for the simple language of the stories.
Reviewer: Betty Carter
(3)
PS
Preschooler Jazzbo's best buddy is his stuffed bear, until he meets an unlikely friend, Googy, at school. Googy nearly foils any possibility for friendship with his bungling but well-intentioned efforts. However, when Big Bear falls in the mud, Googy, always messy himself, knows exactly what to do. The illustrations of Googy's goofy mistakes reinforce the silly tone of the story.
Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty
(3)
PS
When Jazzbo's mom tells him they're going looking for a school, Jazzbo insists, "I do not need a school." After they visit the strict Grumpity School and the chaotic Willy Nilly School, warm Miss Boggle convinces Jazzbo that Super School needs him, and after a day in her classroom, Jazzbo happily agrees. An enticing and entertaining introduction to school, humorously illustrated.
Reviewer: Susan Halperin
(4)
K-3
In this story about accepting differences, a robot family is shunned when they move into a new neighborhood. Once the neighbors get to know the Robobots, however, they realize how much they actually have in common. The cartoonlike illustrations keep the moral from overwhelming the story for younger readers, but older ones will see the obvious analogies for what they are.
Reviewer: Susan Halperin
(4)
K-3
A brother and sister's argument over which one of them the dog likes best leads to a pillow fight that spreads across the world. Novak's cartoon people don't have the visual appeal of the animal characters found in his previous books; and his rhyming text, while clever at the beginning and end, loses steam once the fight leaves the house.
Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.
10 reviews
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