A charming idea that misses in the execution.
When night falls, the creatures of the night gather to hear stories.
Crawlers, beetles, voles, mice, bats, nighthawks, they come. “Fireflies light the way. The north wind blows, branches sway and part…the twilight library stirs to life. Critters gather round in a circle while…the Night Librarian descends on silver strings and unravels the story threads.” What follows certainly tickles each of the senses with talk of “indigo mountaintops,” “tangy berries,” “whisker kisses,” “wispy wood smoke,” “the song of cicadas.” But after this sumptuous scene is set, readers are jolted abruptly out of the book as the spider “weaves the final scene…of feasting, of dancing, of daring that saves the day….” After all the sensory setup, that’s all readers get of the tale the Night Librarian actually tells. Meanwhile, the listeners are enraptured, emerging from the threads of the story only when dawn arrives to send them to their individual dreams. Soft dreamlike colors suffuse the scenes, the twilight library depicted charmingly as books suspended on the threads of a spiderweb. The animals sport golden crowns when their imaginations make them part of the story being woven; aside from the beetles sitting like humans and the unrealistic gathering of these disparate (sometimes predator-prey) animals, they are not anthropomorphized. A few of the scenes are so hazy that readers may have difficulty parsing them. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A charming idea that misses in the execution. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4496-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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