Anyone who has worried about the loss of a special friend will understand the feelings involved with great sympathy and...
In three short chapters filled with many short words, readers will recognize a child's trauma about a lost pet.
Ben, whom readers have met before in the Aggie and Ben series, is a conscientious person to his little dog, Aggie. He takes good care of her, feeds her, gives her large quantities of attention and affection and shares the bed, which he thinks is his and she knows is hers. But on her walk in the park, Aggie chases the red ball that she usually returns to him and doesn't come back. She is lost. Ben and his parents do everything they can to find their special friend, posting signs, searching, asking others—to no avail. After a terrible night, the boy returns to the park, where they again encounter friends, to resume the search. Mr. Thomas, who is blind, suggests that Ben use his ears to locate her. Eureka! He hears her howl, she is found and everyone is happy. Despite her bad breath and, worse, the stench of something Aggie has rolled in—a not uncommon habit of pups—all ends well. Art in pen, ink and watercolor shows the characters and their emotions clearly in a faux childlike drawing style.
Anyone who has worried about the loss of a special friend will understand the feelings involved with great sympathy and empathy. (Easy reader. 4-7)Pub Date: July 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-57091-633-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: June 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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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