An only seemingly simple but endlessly sweet meditation on patience
A lone bear enacts one half of a faithful friendship.
Bear, a friendly-looking ursine with light brown fur, saucer eyes, and a pointy snout “has been sitting and waiting since dawn” at a bus stop next to a cherry tree. He’s “waiting for Goliath,” he tells the world at large. Damm constructs her scene in three dimensions, a painted twig with flowers pasted on standing in as the tree, and cut, painted pieces of cardboard acting as grass and shrubbery as well as the bench Bear sits on. Bear himself is drawn on paper that’s cut and sometimes articulated, so he can be posed realistically (and humorously). Although the perspective never changes, readers will be transfixed by the diorama, watching how shadows cast by the grasses change as first hours and then seasons go by. A robin raises a family in the tree, which blossoms, bears fruit, and then drops its leaves before winter comes. And still, there’s no Goliath—indeed, “sometimes Bear forgets that he is waiting for Goliath.” When he wakes up the next spring following hibernation, “he hears a faint noise like a hand sliding slowly across paper. Goliath is coming!” Adult readers may be astonished when Goliath appears, unlike Godot; child readers will simply be charmed to see that Goliath is a snail. With not a hint of irritation, Bear finally leaves his post with Goliath to play.
An only seemingly simple but endlessly sweet meditation on patience . (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-7765-7141-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school...
The familiar theme of the challenges facing a new kid in town is given an original treatment by photographer Border in this book of photos of three-dimensional objects in a simple modeled landscape.
Peanut Butter is represented by a slice of white bread spread with the popular condiment. The other characters in the story—a hamburger with a pair of hot dogs in tow, a bowl of alphabet soup, a meatball jumping a rope of spaghetti, a carton of French fries and a pink cupcake—are represented by skillfully crafted models of these foods, anthropomorphized using simple wire construction. Rejected by each character in turn in his search for playmates, Peanut Butter discovers in the end that Jelly is his true match (not Cupcake, as the title suggests), perhaps because she is the only one who looks like him, being a slice of white bread spread with jelly. The friendly foods end up happily playing soccer together. Some parents may have trouble with the unabashedly happy depiction of carbs and American junk food (no carrots or celery sticks in this landscape), and others may find themselves troubled by the implication that friendship across difference is impossible.
Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school experiences. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 29, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-16773-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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