Small Readers: Kiwi cannot reach! and Bunny will not smile! by Jason Tharp

[Originally published in October, 2019]

I picked these up because the art style reminded me a little of Jonathan Fenske, a very popular easy reader and picture book author in our library. They turned out to be colorful and funny, but not quite up to Fenske's standard.

In Kiwi cannot reach! a flightless little bird is determined to pull a mysterious rope, high above her. She looks like a plump, brown pear! After exhausting all her own efforts, she asks the readers for help. She builds contraptions and helpful, unseen readers push the button or flip the switch, but each effort ends in disaster! But Kiwi does not give up. Her big, cartoon eyes and the little quirk in her beak remain optimistic! Finally, she almost gives up. But no! She has one more idea and YOU the readers can help! With an unexpected ending, this is sure to provoke giggles. The cartoon-style illustrations are fresh and accessible, my only quibble with this title is the interactive element. This is all the rage right now in picture books, and there it makes sense. However, in an easy reader, especially one aimed at younger readers (although the reading level is higher on this, about 450 lexile, the bold text and simple pictures are sure to attract beginning readers) the interactive element is a major distraction to the process of actually reading.


The second title, Bunny will not smile! also encourages interaction with the text, but I think this one works better for beginning readers. A worried blue bear named Big explains that there's a problem. Readers follow her along to find the problem; a purple bunny named Bunny who refuses to smile! Big has tried everything, dressing like a clown, offering carrots, but Bunny says no one can make her smile. So Big needs the help of YOU the reader, to make a silly face and get Bunny smiling! To my mind, this one works better; first, the text is slightly simpler than Kiwi and secondly the actions are simply readers making silly faces and following the words to turn the page.

Revisited: While I still prefer Fenske, Tharp's work is popular as well and we are revisiting Kiwi for book club next week. These are fun fill-in titles and he has continued producing fun early readers and picture books.

Verdict: There's nothing particularly wrong with these; they're funny and definitely attractive to kids. I do think Kiwi would have worked better as a picture book though. Both are good fillers for easy reader sections and will appeal to fans of Fenske, Mo Willems, and Ethan Long.

Kiwi cannot reach!

ISBN: 9781534425125; Published May 2019 by Simon Spotlight; Purchased for the library

Bunny will not smile
ISBN: 9781534425095; Published January 2019 by Simon Spotlight; Purchased for the library