Parents never listen. Elizabeth has been trying to tell them about all the myriad fish squeezing out of the bathroom faucet upstairs, but they ignore her . . . until a baby beluga in a bathtub plunges through the kitchen ceiling from above. Elizabeth keeps Mom and Dad from calling the National Guard by fetching the plumber from her beloved aquarium. He explains that they have a “fish jam,” a mix-up with the aquarium pipes, and proceeds to free the backed-up fish from the plumbing. Soon marine life peers out from every watery window in the house. All ends well: The family home becomes an aquarium for wayward fish, “And from then on, Elizabeth’s parents listened very carefully whenever Elizabeth spoke.” The storyline itself is appealing, but Elizabeth’s repeated attempts to communicate with her relentlessly clueless parents wear just a bit thin. Anderson’s soft, delicate Peter Sís–like illustrations serve up plenty of fishy fun and their lovely subtleties provide an interesting complement to this utterly over-the-top story of guppy love. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: June 2, 2005
ISBN: 0-525-47166-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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