Like its series predecessors, both broad and deep, focused on themes of community dynamics and conflict resolution.
Bear and her woodland friends are terrorized by a towering ice bear who moves in, declaring himself king and them nonpersons—“just food that no one has bothered to eat.”
“I thought this kind of terrible thing only happened in books!” declares Mole, aghast. But no, it seems that if the roaring, imperious newcomer’s demand for a whole new palace isn’t met overnight, everyone will be summarily “beaten, eaten, and pooped.” What to do when the kindness and generosity that resolved problems in past episodes go for naught and even force isn’t a viable option? Showing that there’s still some moral high ground to be explored, Gough brings in help from a decidedly unexpected source…namely, Wolf, earlier driven off into the Dark Woods to starve for his predatory behavior but, it turns out, wise in the ways of coping with fears and clever enough to devise a collective strategy to send the bully packing. The grateful animals in turn contrive a nonfatal way to bring their tricksy, toothy benefactor back into the fold. At least for a time. Flooding snowy settings in the duotone illustrations with blue, wintry light, Field exaggerates the expressions and postures of his popeyed cartoon animal figures to heighten the comedy and the drama alike. In several scenes Wolf resembles a particularly feral, emaciated Wile E. Coyote, which makes his sagacity even more of a thought-provoking surprise.
Like its series predecessors, both broad and deep, focused on themes of community dynamics and conflict resolution. (map) (Animal fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64517-602-2
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Silver Dolphin Books
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Inspiration, shrink wrapped.
From an artist, poet, and Instagram celebrity, a pep talk for all who question where a new road might lead.
Opening by asking readers, “Have you ever wanted to go in a different direction,” the unnamed narrator describes having such a feeling and then witnessing the appearance of a new road “almost as if it were magic.” “Where do you lead?” the narrator asks. The Road’s twice-iterated response—“Be a leader and find out”—bookends a dialogue in which a traveler’s anxieties are answered by platitudes. “What if I fall?” worries the narrator in a stylized, faux hand-lettered type Wade’s Instagram followers will recognize. The Road’s dialogue and the narration are set in a chunky, sans-serif type with no quotation marks, so the one flows into the other confusingly. “Everyone falls at some point, said the Road. / But I will always be there when you land.” Narrator: “What if the world around us is filled with hate?” Road: “Lead it to love.” Narrator: “What if I feel stuck?” Road: “Keep going.” De Moyencourt illustrates this colloquy with luminous scenes of a small, brown-skinned child, face turned away from viewers so all they see is a mop of blond curls. The child steps into an urban mural, walks along a winding country road through broad rural landscapes and scary woods, climbs a rugged metaphorical mountain, then comes to stand at last, Little Prince–like, on a tiny blue and green planet. Wade’s closing claim that her message isn’t meant just for children is likely superfluous…in fact, forget the just.
Inspiration, shrink wrapped. (Picture book. 6-8, adult)Pub Date: March 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-26949-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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