Youngsters who are constantly told to hush will love how a little character’s big voice makes all the difference.
A small cat and a little girl stop a crime in this illustrated tale.
Mouse, a tiny gray feline with huge ears and a big voice, never seems to meow when her family can appreciate it. Instead, she does so during television shows and breakfast time, and when everyone wants to sleep. But Little Liz understands what it’s like when others don’t listen; instead of telling Mouse to “hush,” like everyone else, Liz listens, and Mouse listens to her. One day, when Mouse hears an unusual noise in the kitchen, she tries to get her people’s attention. Only Liz responds, and they discover burglars. Mouse saves the day with a house-shaking meow, keeping the crisis in Benishek’s (The Squeezor Is Coming!, 2018, etc.) story from becoming too scary. (The cat-burglar team also includes actual cats, which heightens the silliness.) Mouse’s perpetual cheer, even in the face of being told to hush, comes through in Young’s (Angel on Assignment, 2018, etc.) color illustrations, which show Liz to be an irrepressible youngster with dark skin and curly brown hair. The parallels between Mouse (who “hadn’t grown into her ears yet”) and Little Liz (who “hadn’t grown into her eyes yet”) are also cleverly expressed.
Youngsters who are constantly told to hush will love how a little character’s big voice makes all the difference.Pub Date: June 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-387-83056-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: MacLaren-Cochrane Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
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