A satisfying horse story with a new twist. Little Horse lives in a remote valley with his family and other horses. One day, he strays from the protection of his family, takes a drink from the river, and is carried far away from his safe valley. Disaster after disaster meets Little Horse, but he relies upon luck and his wits to survive. The story’s surprising twist comes when the reader realizes that Little Horse really is little. Little enough for the flowers to look like trees. Little enough for a hawk to try to pick him up. This unexpected detail separates Little Horse from many beginning chapter books. When Little Horse meets humans for the first time, he is terrified by their size and then comforted by their care. McPhail’s (Mud Is Cake, below, etc.) warm pencil illustrations add excitement and understanding to each page. McPhail can make Little Horse look lonely or terrified or comforted. Though the word choice, fast pace, and predictable adventures are perfect for the child who is ready to move beyond easy reading books, the story line provides fantastical and philosophical questions often lacking in books for children of this age. (Fiction. 6-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8050-6413-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2002
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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