Perfectly paced, accessible, and appealing, this glimpse into a far-off habitat will entertain young listeners and, perhaps,...
Pushed out of their current territory by human encroachment, a mother tiger and her offspring search for a new home.
The lightly anthropomorphized animals (they express emotions and have the power of speech but otherwise look and behave like real tigers) consider a number of options. Sera, the female cub, offers the first suggestion. Unfortunately, although the cave behind a waterfall is well hidden, it’s too wet. Puli is next to propose an idea, but the tall tree he has them climb is equally unsuitable: “it’s a very long way to fall for a tiger,” observes their mother. Two further possibilities are rejected before the family finds a spot that Mother Tiger deems just right. The conversational tone and familiarly patterned narrative contrast pleasantly with the tangled jungle setting. Weaver’s smudgy charcoal illustrations, digitally colored, are lovely and softly luminous. Warm shades of orange enhance the tigers’ shaggy coats; effective use of white space combined with hues that lean toward yellow and brown effectively evoke the landscape and other animals. The author’s focus on parent-child relationships, evident in her earlier books, Little Whale (2018) and Little One (2016), infuses this tale as well. The explicit focus on the threats created by human activities adds tension and drama. An author’s note includes information about Bengal tigers.
Perfectly paced, accessible, and appealing, this glimpse into a far-off habitat will entertain young listeners and, perhaps, awaken their empathy. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68263-110-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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