Dinosaur-loving Middle-Eastern tourists may be a small demographic, but this book targets them perfectly.
There’s a theory that any book can be improved by putting a dinosaur in it. You may have a child in your family who believes that “Hansel and Gretel and Stegosaurus” would be ten times better than the original. And so we have a travel guide about a dinosaur who goes to the Holy Land. Sample verse: “I ride up Mt. Masada. / Dino hikes the snakey path. / We cool off at the Dead Sea. / He enjoys a warm mud bath.” The other verses don’t scan any better. The book does provide an authentic Israeli experience, of sorts: falafel, the Western Wall, souvenir shopping at a shuk. Readers will learn half-a-dozen Hebrew words and find out that a shuk is a marketplace. But there’s a very inauthentic dinosaur on every page. This may be a test of character. If you have to ask why a dinosaur has taken a plane to Israel, this isn’t the book for you. If your child points to the cover and tells you the name of the dinosaur on the front, you may need to purchase this book. Otherwise, you can buy a dinosaur toy and a travel book and safely keep them separate. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7613-5134-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
Fans of this popular series will find this a rewarding addition to family Easter celebrations.
Bergren and Bryant attempt to explain Easter to young children in a gentle, nonthreatening manner, with partial success.
When Little Cub questions her father about Easter, Papa Bear explains the religious significance of the holiday in various symbolic ways to his cub. He uses familiar things from their world, such as an egg and a fallen tree, to draw parallels with aspects of the Christian story. Papa Bear discusses his close relationships with Jesus and God, encouraging Little Cub to communicate with God on her own. The theme focuses on the renewal of life and the positive aspects of loving God and Jesus. Easter is presented as a celebration of eternal life, but the story skirts the issue of the crucifixion entirely. Some adults will find this an inadequate or even dishonest approach to the Easter story, but others will appreciate the calm and soothing text as a way to begin to understand a difficult subject. Bryant’s charming watercolor illustrations of the polar bear family, their cozy home and snowy forest scenes add to the overall mellow effect.
Fans of this popular series will find this a rewarding addition to family Easter celebrations. (Religion/picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-307-73072-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: WaterBrook
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
Stick to separate books about parental love and prayer instead.
This Is Us actor Metz and her partner, songwriter Collins, present a rhyming children’s book about prayer and parental love.
“When I talk to God, guess what I do? / It’s really quite simple: I talk about you.” Fields’ pencil and digital illustrations show different parent-child animal pairs throughout, from bears to otters to skunks, ducks, deer, and more. But from this auspicious beginning, the authors’ point of view and direct address to “you,” the child, makes the majority of the pages seem like affirmations of what they love about their child and not what the parent actually prays for. Adults reading this aloud may see this as a prayer of thanksgiving for their child’s gifts and qualities, but little listeners will not make that connection. In the final pages, the parent tells the child that they can talk to God, too, and that God is always by their side. The last spread states, “You’re my sweetest prayer.” While the individual parts are sweet and affirming of a parent’s love and pride in their child, the sum of those parts isn’t what’s advertised in the title and repetitive refrain “When I talk to God, / I talk about you.” The gentle artwork in soft colors anthropomorphizes the animals’ facial expressions to make their loving relationships clear. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Stick to separate books about parental love and prayer instead. (Religious picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-52524-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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