The first in a planned series, this introduces readers to the BLUES, a bluebird band of five members. Their mission is to compose a new song for their first big concert on the lawn of the White House on the Fourth of July. To accomplish this, they are visiting the different regions of the United States and listening to the birdsongs in those areas. This clever conceit introduces young children to the joys of birdwatching. Each spread includes a page from one of the BLUES’ notebooks as well as a page from a field guide. Taken together, these give readers some interesting facts about each bird. Birding tips scattered throughout will help aspiring birdwatchers successfully begin their new hobby. Backmatter includes a map of the United States marked with each bird’s location and a list of sources for further information. Schroeder’s BLUES are full of personality, each with his/her own strengths, interests, likes and dislikes. She keeps them easy to identify with accessories in their favorite colors, and the cartoonish main characters stand out well from the more realistically portrayed regional birds and their habitats. A creative introduction to a popular hobby. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58469-124-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dawn Publications
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2010
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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