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MRS. WISHY-WASHY’S FARM

Name: MRS. WISHY-WASHY’S FARM
Author: Joy Cowley
ISBN: 0-399-23872-7

by Joy Cowley & illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2003

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When Mrs. Wishy-Washy returns to give Cow, Duck, and Pig yet another scrubbing in the old tin tub, the animals declare, “No more washing!” They run away to the big city where the hustle and bustle feels like a farm stampede to them with no barn haven in sight. They get lost, wander into a restaurant, and stumble through paint cans in a hardware store, ending up in the animal jail. The chug-chug-chug of an old truck signals their rescue by Mrs. Wishy-Washy—and of course, once back on the farm, she gives them a good scrubbing. This latest tale of fastidious “Mrs. Wishy-Washy” is as delightful as the first. The watercolor-and-ink illustrations are down-and-dirty funny, from the animals’ facial expressions to Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s pink cheeks, bandana-covered curls, and red, fuzzy slippers. Even the typeface has a clean look; the easy-to-read, 19-point AvantGarde Demi adds punch to the rhyming text. Pair it with other “dirty” picture books for a rollicking story time. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: May 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-399-23872-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2003

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
THE TINY WOMAN'S COAT
by Joy Cowley ; illustrated by Giselle Clarkson

- BOOK REVIEW
SONG OF THE RIVER
by Joy Cowley ; illustrated by Kimberly Andrews

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WARLI PEOPLE
by Hye-Eun Shin ; illustrated by Su-Bi Jeong ; edited by Joy Cowley

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WILL YOU BE MY FRIEND?

by Sam McBratney ; illustrated by Anita Jeram ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 29, 2020

Readers are likely to love it to the moon and back.

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Little Nutbrown Hare ventures out into the wide world and comes back with a new companion in this sequel to Guess How Much I Love You (1994).

Big Nutbrown Hare is too busy, so after asking permission, Little Nutbrown Hare scampers off over the rolling meadow to play by himself. After discovering that neither his shadow nor his reflection make satisfactory playmates (“You’re only another me!”), Little Nutbrown comes to Cloudy Mountain…and meets “Someone real!” It’s a white bunny who introduces herself as Tipps. But a wonderful round of digging and building and chasing about reaches an unexpected end with a game of hide-and-seek, because both hares hide! After waiting a long time to be found, Little Nutbrown Hare hops on home in disappointment, wondering whether he’ll ever see Tipps again. As it turns out, it doesn’t take long to find out, since she has followed him. “Now, where on earth did she come from?” wonders Big Nutbrown. “Her name is Tipps,” Little Nutbrown proudly replies, “and she’s my friend.” Jeram’s spacious, pale-toned, naturalistic outdoor scenes create a properly idyllic setting for this cozy development in a tender child-caregiver relationship—which hasn’t lost a bit of its appealing intimacy in the more than 25 years since its first appearance. As in the first, Big Nutbrown Hare is ungendered, facilitating pleasingly flexible readings.

Readers are likely to love it to the moon and back. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-5362-1747-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
MINDI AND THE GOOSE NO ONE ELSE COULD SEE
by Sam McBratney ; illustrated by Linda Ólafsdóttir

- BOOK REVIEW
ONE MORE TICKLE!
by Sam McBratney ; illustrated by Anita Jeram

- BOOK REVIEW
LOOK WHAT I CAN DO
by Sam McBratney ; illustrated by Anita Jeram

- IN THE NEWS
Children’s Author Sam McBratney Dies at 77

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I NEED A HUG

by Aaron Blabey ; illustrated by Aaron Blabey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 29, 2019

This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to...

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A hug shouldn’t require an instruction manual—but some do.

A porcupine can frighten even the largest animal. In this picture book, a bear and a deer, along with a small rabbit, each run away when they hear eight simple words and their name: “I need a hug. Will you cuddle me,…?” As they flee, each utters a definitive refusal that rhymes with their name. The repetitive structure gives Blabey plenty of opportunities for humor, because every animal responds to the question with an outlandish, pop-eyed expression of panic. But the understated moments are even funnier. Each animal takes a moment to think over the request, and the drawings are nuanced enough that readers can see the creatures react with slowly building anxiety or, sometimes, a glassy stare. These silent reaction shots not only show exquisite comic timing, but they make the rhymes in the text feel pleasingly subtle by delaying the final line in each stanza. The story is a sort of fable about tolerance. It turns out that a porcupine can give a perfectly adequate hug when its quills are flat and relaxed, but no one stays around long enough to find out except for an animal that has its own experiences with intolerance: a snake. It’s an apt, touching moral, but the climax may confuse some readers as they try to figure out the precise mechanics of the embrace.

This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to pet a porcupine.” (Picture book. 3-5)