The marble-mouthed song, too-cheerful illustrations and disconnect between the song and setting make this one to skip; for a...
A too-long setup leads readers through a repetitious song that enumerates a marine food chain.
In Law’s adaptation of the traditional cumulative song, there is a shark in the hole in the bottom of the sea. He is joined by an eel, a squid, a crab, a snail and a green weed. Rather than repeating the first, the second line of each verse adds a small rhyming detail—the shark is in the dark, the eel is concealed, the squid hid—increasing the level of difficulty for an already tough-to-sing tune. The sun kicks off the food chain illustrated in the final two double-page spreads. In one, the smiling animals line up, mouths or appendages reaching for their next meal; the other depicts the still-smiling animals inside each other. McDonald’s childlike cartoon gouache-and-collage illustrations are a mishmash of textures, colors and patterns that mostly reflect the marine habitat. But the setting is not consistently a hole in the bottom of the sea. Rather, the five animals (and two scuba divers) appear just under a sailboat on the surface. Backmatter provides information about blue holes, food chains, the ocean, and the featured flora and fauna. Sheet music shares the copyright page.
The marble-mouthed song, too-cheerful illustrations and disconnect between the song and setting make this one to skip; for a less busy but still child-friendly look at food chains, try Mick Manning’s Snap! (2006). (enhanced CD, not seen; sheet music) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-84686-861-0
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends.
Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both!
Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. “ ‘Beep!’ said Blue. ‘Just hop inside. / All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of [series co-creator] Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-85213-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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