A good reminder that a stroll through the woods should provide lots of opportunities to slow down and notice.
A whimsical tale of a child who listens hard in enjoying the woods.
A kid wearing a yellow shirt, reddish-orange overalls, and gray lace-up shoes tells readers, “The forest has lots to say…if you listen.” Every spread features onomatopoeic text that simulates the sounds of trees, leaves, animals, and other living things, and the child notices all of this. On one double-page spread, three squirrels nibble orange nuts or fruits in a tree while the child stands underneath, eyes closed, soaking in the sounds. The kid, who has pale skin and thick, black hair rendered in strokes that give it a ropy look, walks with an adult into the forest on the title page, and, on the last page, they leave together, hand in hand. But for most of the story, the young protagonist enjoys the forest alone, confident, safe, and immersed. The mixed-media illustrations, awash in greens and blues, portray the animals somewhat anthropomorphically. For instance, in the final scene, 13 animals appear, and all but one of them looks adoringly at the humans exiting the woods. While the illustrations offer young children opportunities to name different animals, scientifically oriented readers might be disappointed that vague anatomical details make some of them impossible to identify. The story kicks off the Sounds of Nature series.
A good reminder that a stroll through the woods should provide lots of opportunities to slow down and notice. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77164-736-6
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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
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
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