A winner for libraries everywhere: home, public, day care, preschool, and school.
Rabbit, Cat, Bear, and Elephant are afraid of a voice coming out of Rabbit’s burrow, but Mama Frog solves the mystery.
“Rabbit was hopping home one day when he heard a loud voice…: ‘I’m the GIANT JUMPEREE and I’m scary as can be!’ ” A gentle, pastel-hued watercolor setting lies behind the upright, taken-aback Rabbit on verso and the grassy entrance to his burrow on recto. When Rabbit cries for help, Cat (a female) volunteers to “slink inside and pounce”—until the voice calls out again, repeating “I’m the GIANT JUMPEREE and I’ll squash you like a flea!” As each of the aforementioned animals goes to the next one for help, they all stay near the burrow, anxiously awaiting the appearance of the voice’s mysterious owner, which issues a different rhyming threat with each new encounter. Mama Frog uses a technique that many preschoolers will recognize: she counts to three to make the Giant Jumperee leave Rabbit’s burrow. The gleeful, unrepentant culprit is sure to make children giggle—then pause with Mama Frog’s response. The text’s tone, plot, and repetitions are perfect for the youngest readers. The artwork is a masterful match, with humorous, exquisitely rendered body language and facial expressions. Each time there is tension, the art and text of the following page relieves it. The final, wordless double-page spread is a joyous affirmation of life and friendship.
A winner for libraries everywhere: home, public, day care, preschool, and school. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2797-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
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, 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
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