A two-time Carnegie winner, acclaimed for her poetic, richly perceptive novels (Granny Was a Buffer Girl, 1988), gives a uniquely British flavor to a familiar scenario: Miss Smith asks her students to bring their pets to school; when Rachel can't produce the one she glowingly describes (``He's as big as a mountain...And he's got bells and ribbons and a swingletree. And he smells like a haystack''), her friends' laughter is incredulous. But Rachel's story is true: her family makes a living by taking people on their barge-home, pulled along the canal by their huge horse. Snowy has a job to do, and can't come to school—but Miss Smith and Rachel's parents work out a satisfying alternative: the whole class gets a ride on the barge. It's a little surprising that the children don't already know of this enticing local attraction, and the gratuitous ``mom'' jars (if ``mum'' is to be avoided, why not say ``mother''?), but never mind: Doherty enriches her simple, gracefully told story with vividly concrete description, while Bowen's luminous, full-bleed pastel illustrations draw one into the very English canal-side setting, with its low brick bridges, flat, pastoral surroundings, intriguing water-borne homes, and wonderfully observed horse. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-8037-1343-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1993
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
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