Lacking the perfect pairings of animal and behavior, this one just doesn’t stand out.
Paul and Walker continue their If Animals series with this look at animals attending school.
Just what would an all-animal school look like? How would students and teachers behave? Previous series outings each had their strengths and weaknesses, and this one, unfortunately, seems to combine all of the latter. While the array of fauna is a plus, the students are just labeled with the adult name—Beaver, Lemming, etc.—missing the opportunity to teach kids the names for animal young that made If Animals Kissed Good Night (2008) stand out. Worse, though, is the fact that many of the animals don’t stand out as exemplifying their behaviors, instead merely highlighting what happens at school: Elephant stacks cardboard blocks in a tower, Mouse plays with shapes, Bear “hog[s] the triangles,” and Beaver is the reluctant student whose parent drags him to school. “Fox would rush to the story nook, / and bark-bark, ‘Goat! Stop eating that book.’ ” Well, at least Goat is doing what goats often do, even if Fox is acting a lot more like a herd dog than a predator. Onomatopoeia is emphasized throughout, and young listeners will likely enjoy chiming in on the sound effects, though the rhythm and rhyme are inconsistent. Walker’s illustrations are softly colored and delightfully adorable.
Lacking the perfect pairings of animal and behavior, this one just doesn’t stand out. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-374-30902-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together.
A clueless duckling tries to make a new friend.
He is confused by this peculiar-looking duck, who has a long tail, doesn’t waddle and likes to be alone. No matter how explicitly the creature denies he is a duck and announces that he is a cat, the duckling refuses to acknowledge the facts. When this creature expresses complete lack of interest in playing puddle stomp, the little ducking goes off and plays on his own. But the cat is not without remorse for rejecting an offered friendship. Of course it all ends happily, with the two new friends enjoying each other’s company. Bramsen employs brief sentences and the simplest of rhymes to tell this slight tale. The two heroes are meticulously drawn with endearing, expressive faces and body language, and their feathers and fur appear textured and touchable. Even the detailed tree bark and grass seem three-dimensional. There are single- and double-page spreads, panels surrounded by white space and circular and oval frames, all in a variety of eye-pleasing juxtapositions. While the initial appeal is solidly visual, young readers will get the gentle message that friendship is not something to take for granted but is to be embraced with open arms—or paws and webbed feet.
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-86990-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender...
A polar-bear parent speaks poetically of love for a child.
A genderless adult and cub travel through the landscapes of an arctic year. Each of the softly rendered double-page paintings has a very different feel and color palette as the pair go through the seasons, walking through wintry ice and snow and green summer meadows, cavorting in the blue ocean, watching whales, and playing beside musk oxen. The rhymes of the four-line stanzas are not forced, as is the case too often in picture books of this type: “When cold, winter winds / blow the leaves far and wide, / You’ll cross the great icebergs / with me by your side.” On a dark, snowy night, the loving parent says: “But for now, cuddle close / while the stars softly shine. // I’ll always be yours, / and you’ll always be mine.” As the last illustration shows the pair curled up for sleep, young listeners will be lulled to sweet dreams by the calm tenor of the pictures and the words. While far from original, this timeless theme is always in demand, and the combination of delightful illustrations and poetry that scans well make this a good choice for early-childhood classrooms, public libraries, and one-on-one home read-alouds.
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender restrictions. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-070-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
