Hibernation has rarely felt so well earned and enchanting.
Preparing for winter hibernation instills a big lesson for Small Bear in this bedtime story.
When a late-fall wind chills the child after an afternoon nap, Mama says, “I smell frost in the air.…Tonight we’ll start our winter slumber.” But the day is packed; they must find sprigs of spruce to make a warm nest. There are juicy acorns to gather. And Small Bear needs to take a bath before their long sleep. Small Bear wants nothing more than to have enough time for a story before sleep, but Mama warns her: “If you help—no dilly, no dally—then we’ll have time for stories,” she says. Small Bear works hard to avoid temptations: snuggling in a cozy hole in a spruce tree, playing longer in the stream, and climbing higher in the tree. But Mama’s instruction helps Small Bear to stay on track and remember “to save time for stories.” Of course, Small Bear’s resistance to the kind of procrastination that would sink many others is rewarded with Mama’s best story, and sleep comes quickly. McGinty’s rhythmic prose and absolute mastery of pace elevate a simple story to something poetically potent. Jones’ deeply textured illustrations make every spruce sprig and, especially, the bears’ fur stand out beautifully. A standout spread rotates the book 90 degrees for a tall tree climb; it’s a delight, just like everything else in this expertly executed picture book. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.5-by-21-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Hibernation has rarely felt so well earned and enchanting. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-5227-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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