In this thematic poetry collection, noted anthologist Hopkins (Home to Me: Poems Across America, 2002, etc.) has selected 20 simple, humorous poems about children’s pets for this addition to the I Can Read series. The selections include both common pets (dogs, cats, birds, and goldfish) and more unusual ones (a purple snake, a tarantula, and a hedgehog). Poems from well-known writers such as Karla Kuskin, X. J. Kennedy, and Aileen Fisher are included, along with several works by Hopkins himself. All the poems rhyme except one, with the text of the poetry printed in large type and with extra line spacing to assist new readers. Many of the poems are set against pastel backgrounds incorporated into double-paged spreads, which works well, but with several poems, part of the text is set against a darker portion of the illustration, a distraction for beginning readers. Manning (Drip, Drop, 2000, etc.) provides a cast of appealing animals and cute children with stylized, elongated eyes, and she focuses on both playful action scenes and more introspective moments between child and pet. The artist includes children of all ethnicities in her illustrations, and she chooses a spunky little girl as the owner of a pet tarantula. In an amusing subtlety, children often sport haircuts or clothes that echo the physical features of their pet in a gentle hint at the old concept of shared identity. An index of authors and titles is included, although a contents page is not, which seems to put the bibliographic cart before the horse. (Easy reader/poetry. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-06-029111-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2003
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your dreads! Isadora once again plies her hand using colorful, textured collages to depict her fourth fairy tale relocated to Africa. The narrative follows the basic story line: Taken by an evil sorceress at birth, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower; Rapunzel and the prince “get married” in the tower and she gets pregnant. The sorceress cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and tricks the prince, who throws himself from the tower and is blinded by thorns. The terse ending states: “The prince led Rapunzel and their twins to his kingdom, where they were received with great joy and lived happily every after.” Facial features, clothing, dreadlocks, vultures and the prince riding a zebra convey a generic African setting, but at times, the mixture of patterns and textures obfuscates the scenes. The textile and grain characteristic of the hewn art lacks the elegant romance of Zelinksy’s Caldecott version. Not a first purchase, but useful in comparing renditions to incorporate a multicultural aspect. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-24772-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008
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