Where Dave Ross’s and Laura Rader’s A Book of Friends (p. 537) faltered, Kolar’s big, gregarious book succeeds; it’s the ideal size for covering the giant topic of friendship. The pages are rife with drawings, while the text is a collage of tips, captions, and declarations. The spreads show a pageant of the things friends do: bike-riding, dancing, sending messages, and playing musical instruments. The downside of friendship shows up, too, for fights break out and sometimes people just need to be alone. Such general concepts are the playground for Kolar’s parade of silly pictures. “Check me out!” says a checker board, doffing his hat, while on another page a flower explains, “My friends picked me.” The endpapers are alive with stick people, juggling, sweeping, and eating gigantic ice cream cones. A board game breaks up the text by contributing concepts about friendship, e.g., “Stick out your tongue at someone/Lose a turn,” while a separate tale within the pages offers children a mini-storytime. The book is so bright and full of drolleries that children may pore over it for hours, and will return to these pages often. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-525-45938-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A skirmish over a favorite stuffed rabbit nearly destroys a friendship and the toy itself, but well-timed physical and emotional bandaging saves the day. When a little boy moves in next door to a little girl they quickly becomes friends and start sharing toys. This works well for cars, trucks, bears, and balls, but when the boy shows up with a new stuffed rabbit, cooperation goes out the window. In the ensuing tug-of-rabbit, each child yanks on the poor bunny’s ears until the stitching gives way. Figuring out a way to repair the rabbit also eventually patches up the friendship. Minor battles rage in homes and preschools everywhere, so children and adults alike will appreciate this subtle example of a peaceful resolution to toy disputes. Jahn-Clough’s pleasantly stubby children convey both healthy loud-mouthed anger and substantial charm. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-93545-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Who is next in the ocean food chain? Pallotta has a surprising answer in this picture book glimpse of one curious boy. Danny, fascinated by plankton, takes his dory and rows out into the ocean, where he sees shrimp eating those plankton, fish sand eels eating shrimp, mackerel eating fish sand eels, bluefish chasing mackerel, tuna after bluefish, and killer whales after tuna. When an enormous humpbacked whale arrives on the scene, Danny’s dory tips over and he has to swim for a large rock or become—he worries’someone’s lunch. Surreal acrylic illustrations in vivid blues and red extend the story of a small boy, a small boat, and a vast ocean, in which the laws of the food chain are paramount. That the boy has been bathtub-bound during this entire imaginative foray doesn’t diminish the suspense, and the facts Pallotta presents are solidly researched. A charming fish tale about the one—the boy—that got away. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-88106-075-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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