Pop!

June 4, 2018
Bespectacled, bubble-blowing Dewey tries to catch and pop all the bubbles he’s blown, and when one gets away from him, his quest progresses from balloon to helicopter to F-16. Eaton doesn’t waste space establishing the situation. “But in almost no time at all it was out of reach again. He’d need to jump higher.” Jumping doesn’t cut it, though, and Dewey comes up with new schemes as fast as the bubble rises—getting his telescope on it, resorting to a nearby elevator, then convincing a (female) pilot to allow him to commandeer her helicopter: “And after some explaining and thanking, it was all his.” Polished artwork by Rockefeller (an illustrator of 5 Worlds 2: The Cobalt Prince) follows the high-altitude pursuit with sunlit clouds, aerial views of the landscape, and sweeping views of the gleaming aircraft themselves. Though Eaton’s (The Catawampus Cat) narration perks right along, with bonus factoids along the way (“He knew F-16s could only go up to 50,000 feet…”), Rockefeller’s images carry the story’s action forward with such force and clarity that nonreaders who admire skyborne transportation can narrate the story themselves—and may want to do it more than once. Ages 4–8.

June 1, 2018
On a beautiful day, Dewey sits under a shady tree, blowing bubbles by himself. "The best part of blowing bubbles is popping them," he declares. One bubble gets away, and Dewey decides to give chase. As the bubble floats away, Dewey first jumps, then clambers to the top of a jungle gym and then to the rooftop in an effort to catch the errant bubble. His quest takes him to the top of a skyscraper, then into a hot air balloon, and then onto a helicopter, then a biplane, then a zooming F-16; not high enough! He'll never be able to catch it, unless...yes! It's the day of the moon launch, and Dewey hitches a ride on a rocket, landing on the moon. In his spacesuit, the lack of gravity allows him to reach high, but the bubble remains just out of reach. Defeated, he returns home. It's bedtime, but Dewey can't resist one last look through his telescope--which yields a big surprise. Eaton and Rockefeller introduce readers to various forms of transportation with Dewey's mad dash. Graphic panels speed readers through the story, but, rather like a bubble, it's ultimately insubstantial. Dewey has olive skin and black hair, and among the aviators he encounters are a confident older black man and a young white woman.A swift and breathless tour. (Picture book. 3-6)

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July 1, 2018

PreS-Gr 2-"You don't need a friend to blow bubbles." Dewey believes that-he likes to pop all of them himself. But the last one just slips away, and no matter how fast he runs or jumps, from trampoline or jungle gym, it's just inches out of reach. As his telescope tracks its flight toward a "really tall" building in town, Dewey heads upward, traveling first in a slow elevator-then catching a ride in a hot air balloon, a helicopter, plane, jet, and rocket. None reaches the bubble, but Dewey sees its final "pop" through a extraordinarily unusual communication. Drawn and painted digitally, an easily identifiable Dewey with glasses and backpack lives in a world suffused with a soft natural daylight. Images in various sizes with multiple perspectives propel the action of the tale, even a distant bubble seen through Dewey's telescope lens. VERDICT A far-fetched adventure of perseverance and discovery, this book celebrates the joy of sharing new revelations and successes in a suggested general purchase for all libraries.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX

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