Unfortunately, this mishmash of a tale ultimately disappoints.
In this shallow story, Carlos the chameleon is sure that he is the king of the zoo—and he always will be as long as someone believes in him.
In an opening spread featuring a game-board–like trail on which each of eight animal pens bear signs with crowns, an omniscient narrator asks “[W]ho’s king of the zoo?” Carlos, at the beginning of the trail, believes he is until he ventures into the zoo and sees the crown outside the kangaroos’ enclosure. His eyes bulge, and, echoing Eric Carle’s From Head to Toe (1997), he becomes hopping mad. When he finds a crown at the monkeys’ tree, he scratches his head; at the elephants’, he stomps his foot and so on. Angry and bewildered, Carlos shouts at each animal (in big type in speech bubbles), staking his claim. His obnoxious behavior is somewhat alleviated by the bright cartoon-style art, which depicts the animals looking on, perplexed, as Carlos exhausts himself. In a forced interlude, the chameleon experiences a range of clichéd emotions, turning green with envy and going yellow with fear—ruminations that only scratch the surface. The superficiality is reinforced by the conclusion. Carlos recovers when a visitor arrives at his window and claims, “He’s my favorite.” The stated lesson: He only needed one person to know “he ruled.”
Unfortunately, this mishmash of a tale ultimately disappoints. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-46182-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together.
A clueless duckling tries to make a new friend.
He is confused by this peculiar-looking duck, who has a long tail, doesn’t waddle and likes to be alone. No matter how explicitly the creature denies he is a duck and announces that he is a cat, the duckling refuses to acknowledge the facts. When this creature expresses complete lack of interest in playing puddle stomp, the little ducking goes off and plays on his own. But the cat is not without remorse for rejecting an offered friendship. Of course it all ends happily, with the two new friends enjoying each other’s company. Bramsen employs brief sentences and the simplest of rhymes to tell this slight tale. The two heroes are meticulously drawn with endearing, expressive faces and body language, and their feathers and fur appear textured and touchable. Even the detailed tree bark and grass seem three-dimensional. There are single- and double-page spreads, panels surrounded by white space and circular and oval frames, all in a variety of eye-pleasing juxtapositions. While the initial appeal is solidly visual, young readers will get the gentle message that friendship is not something to take for granted but is to be embraced with open arms—or paws and webbed feet.
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-86990-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender...
A polar-bear parent speaks poetically of love for a child.
A genderless adult and cub travel through the landscapes of an arctic year. Each of the softly rendered double-page paintings has a very different feel and color palette as the pair go through the seasons, walking through wintry ice and snow and green summer meadows, cavorting in the blue ocean, watching whales, and playing beside musk oxen. The rhymes of the four-line stanzas are not forced, as is the case too often in picture books of this type: “When cold, winter winds / blow the leaves far and wide, / You’ll cross the great icebergs / with me by your side.” On a dark, snowy night, the loving parent says: “But for now, cuddle close / while the stars softly shine. // I’ll always be yours, / and you’ll always be mine.” As the last illustration shows the pair curled up for sleep, young listeners will be lulled to sweet dreams by the calm tenor of the pictures and the words. While far from original, this timeless theme is always in demand, and the combination of delightful illustrations and poetry that scans well make this a good choice for early-childhood classrooms, public libraries, and one-on-one home read-alouds.
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender restrictions. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-070-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
