Welcome to the spring bookshelf, Bear. So glad you like berries! (Picture book. 3-6)
After waking up from hibernation, Bear is starved. Breakfast is in order, but the perplexed ursine cannot put a paw on exactly what it should be; it starts with the letter B….
It can’t be friend Bunny, who informs Bear, “I am too skinny to taste good” but will help with the search. The pair set off and meet up with Bumblebee. Before Bear can get any ideas, Bumblebee stings it on the nose, and Bear quickly decides to keep looking, now with the insect’s help as well. Now there are three on the breakfast search. Bit by bit the search party grows as they encounter Boa (who offers some bark), a bat (who is too bony for bears), and Bluebird (who needs to take care of her beautiful babies). Eventually, in a nail-biting sequence over three double-page spreads, they spot a brown-skinned child. Could it possibly be that this is the “B!” Bear is looking for? Children are clearly meant to see a boy here and supply the story's punch line, but the word "Boy" is never printed on the page. Readers will be relieved to find it’s the “Berries!!!” the child has been gathering. The story ends with everyone, child included, taking a nap after a bountiful breakfast of berries. Helquist’s charming acrylic-and-oil illustrations are very expressive, anthropomorphizing the animals just enough to engage but making sure Bear’s canines are evident at all times. The spread in which the animals wonder anxiously if they have finally found Bear’s “B!” is priceless.
Welcome to the spring bookshelf, Bear. So glad you like berries! (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 31, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-226455-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.
A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.
A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.
Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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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