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NORTON AND THE BORROWING BEAR

Name: NORTON AND THE BORROWING BEAR
Author: Gabriel Evans
ISBN: 9781922610553

by Gabriel Evans ; illustrated by Gabriel Evans ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023

A sound lesson in making friends—and setting boundaries.

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Is it ever polite to say no to a friend?

Norton, a scruffy anthropomorphic dog, lives at number 42. With most of his neighbors too busy to make friends, Norton is thrilled when a bear moves in next door. He invites the bear to dinner, and they spend a delightful evening. The bear asks to borrow Norton’s fluffy slippers, and Norton is too polite to refuse. However, he spends a sleepless night worrying that the bear might never return his favorite slippers. The bear’s borrowing quickly gets out of hand. Soon, the bear isn’t even knocking at the door before trying to borrow Norton’s comfy chair. Norton finally explodes, chastising the bear for not returning his things. The embarrassed bear shuffles home and returns with everything he has borrowed. Norton puts on his favorite fluffy slippers, makes a cup of tea, plays his flute music, sits in his comfy chair, and is finally at peace. Until…“Ding! Dong!” The bear returns. Only this time, he respects Norton’s boundaries and asks to borrow one thing…Norton himself. In this Australian import, delightfully detailed pastel drawings create a quaint modern urban neighborhood filled with animals and diverse humans. The images effectively show Norton’s escalating frustration and capture the bear’s misguided attempts at friendship and sincere apology; readers who have been in Norton’s or the bear’s shoes will emerge enlightened. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A sound lesson in making friends—and setting boundaries. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: May 2, 2023

ISBN: 9781922610553

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Berbay Publishing

Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A JOB FOR KINGSLEY
by Gabriel Evans ; illustrated by Gabriel Evans

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A HUMAN FOR KINGSLEY
by Gabriel Evans ; illustrated by Gabriel Evans

- BOOK REVIEW
OLLIE AND AUGUSTUS
by Gabriel Evans ; illustrated by Gabriel Evans

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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TINY T. REX AND THE IMPOSSIBLE HUG

by Jonathan Stutzman ; illustrated by Jay Fleck ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2019

Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.

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With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?

Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.

Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)