Sweet, if freighted.
Cabrera transmutes the simple children’s song into a participatory singalong with a nod to wildlife diversity.
A girl puppy (she has eyelashes and wears a dress) and a boy kitten (he wears a shirt and shorts and has no visible eyelashes) row, row, row that little boat down a green river through a jungly setting. The first verse is the familiar one, and as the pages turn, they meet different animals, all with cute childlike faces and each paired with a verse that encourages animal noises from the audience. “Row, row, row your boat / Closer to the shore. / If you see a lion smile, / Don’t forget to roar. / ROARRR!” In addition to the smiling lion, the rowing pair encounters swimming mice, a monkey (“OO, OO, AH, AH!”), an elephant, a crocodile, a tiger and singing doves (“COO!”). As it gets dark, puppy and kitten see mommy dog on the shore, and “wearily, wearily, wearily, wearily,” they “snuggle up and dream.” Thick impasto acrylics and clear colors with many shades of green underscore the dedication to Earth’s “disappearing forests,” though the illustrations make no attempt to create a recognizable, specific habitat. It may seem like a heavy message for this familiar nursery song; on the other hand, the original “life is but a dream” has philosophical and theological implications galore. Music and all the verses are appended.
Sweet, if freighted. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3050-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
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
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems.
Rhyming poems introduce children to anthropomorphized trucks of all sorts, as well as the jobs that they do.
Adorable multiethnic children are the drivers of these 16 trucks—from construction equipment to city trucks, rescue vehicles and a semi—easily standing in for readers, a point made very clear on the final spread. Varying rhyme schemes and poem lengths help keep readers’ attention. For the most part, the rhymes and rhythms work, as in this, from “Cement Mixer”: “No time to wait; / he can’t sit still. / He has to beg your pardon. / For if he dawdles on the way, / his slushy load will harden.” Slonim’s trucks each sport an expressive pair of eyes, but the anthropomorphism stops there, at least in the pictures—Vestergaard sometimes takes it too far, as in “Bulldozer”: “He’s not a bully, either, / although he’s big and tough. / He waits his turn, plays well with friends, / and pushes just enough.” A few trucks’ jobs get short shrift, to mixed effect: “Skid-Steer Loader” focuses on how this truck moves without the typical steering wheel, but “Semi” runs with a royalty analogy and fails to truly impart any knowledge. The acrylic-and-charcoal artwork, set against white backgrounds, keeps the focus on the trucks and the jobs they are doing.
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems. (Picture book/poetry. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5078-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
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