A high-interest story with a gentle message that is sure to appeal to animal lovers.
After he finds an orphaned baby squirrel clinging to a screen door, Nathan and his parents decide to care for the animal.
Realizing that there might be more than just one orphan, they search the nearby trees and discover six others. They become foster parents to the litter, a process that is described in limited detail. Nathan, who is almost 8 and depicted as white on the cover, has been yearning for a pet, but his parents assure him that these wild animals are not candidates for the role. Batcat, a neighborhood stray, seems like a more appropriate choice. When the battered old tom begins defending the litter of squirrels and then taking a major interest in their well-being, it cements a developing relationship between Nathan’s family and the needy but independent cat. In simple text, and accompanied by at least one attractive, soft-edged black-and-white drawing per brief chapter, veteran author Walters relates a true tale from his own childhood. Nathan’s contented relationship with his parents provides a quiet, tender backdrop to the squirrel and cat tale. His parents’ matter-of-fact ways of handling these animal challenges are both endearing and instructive as they calmly pick up information from the internet and then put it to best use.
A high-interest story with a gentle message that is sure to appeal to animal lovers. (author’s note) (Fiction. 5-9)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1255-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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
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