“The neighborhood was never the same,” the narrator reports, and neither will be the charmed listeners and readers of this...
When Little Brown Bird decides to sing something silly, most birds in the neighborhood follow her lead, but crows can’t be silly, can they?
The creator of A Penguin Story (2009) returns with another imaginative solution to monotony and predictability in the natural world. “All year long,” the narration begins, “…the birds in the neighborhood went....” The words “caw,” “coo,” “chip” and “peep” repeat in speech bubbles, varied only in the order of their appearance. Then, one day, Little Brown Bird tries something new. “Froodle sproodle!” extends across a lengthy spread, its font emphasizing the shocking surprise. On the next spread, matched in magnitude, an unamused crow stares down at the miscreant, but Little Brown Bird can’t resist. Soon, Cardinal and Dove are experimenting, too. As the silliness spreads, the story actually turns sideways for a moment, forcing readers to physically rotate the book 90 degrees. Repeat listeners will gleefully join in with the rhyming dialogue bubbles. The mixed-media illustrations created with pencil, charcoal and ink and with digitally added color are made up of simple and stylized images, but the birds are recognizable.
“The neighborhood was never the same,” the narrator reports, and neither will be the charmed listeners and readers of this cheerful invitation to invention. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59643-922-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: March 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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BOOK REVIEW
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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