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BRAVE MARTHA

Name: BRAVE MARTHA
Author: Margot Apple
ISBN: 0-395-59422-7

by Margot Apple ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

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Apple turns from the exploits of Nancy Shaw’s exuberant sheep (Sheep Take a Hike, 1994, etc.) to a quieter bedtime tale about a young girl facing her fears in the dark. Martha is very brave each night at bedtime when her cat Sophie goes first down the hall and checks “all the creepy places,” including under the bed. The nightly ritual is disrupted one evening when company comes, and they bring their dog. When Martha can’t find Sophie at bedtime, she’s startled by her coonskin cap and by Owl, a wild-thing stuffed animal. Forced to confront her fears on her own, Martha is greatly relieved when the “scritcha, scritcha, scritch” she hears proves to be Sophie, hiding in the dresser drawer. The comfortable pencil and watercolor drawings, making deliberate or accidental homage to Sendak’s Really Rosie, lend a nostalgic flavor to this age-old bedtime dilemma. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-395-59422-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
SHEEP GO TO SLEEP
by Nancy Shaw ; illustrated by Margot Apple

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE GOOSE
by David Mraz and illustrated by Margot Apple

- BOOK REVIEW
SHEEP BLAST OFF!
by Nancy Shaw & illustrated by Margot Apple

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QUACK AND COUNT

by Keith Baker & illustrated by Keith Baker ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1999

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Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-15-292858-8

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
LMNO PEA-QUEL
by Keith Baker ; illustrated by Keith Baker

- BOOK REVIEW
HAP-PEA ALL YEAR
by Keith Baker ; illustrated by Keith Baker

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE GREEN PEAS
by Keith Baker ; illustrated by Keith Baker

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BIG BROWN BEAR

by David McPhail & illustrated by David McPhail ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1999

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Big Brown Bear, with a natty bowler hat, is all set to paint the house in this cheerful Level 1 reader. Every page presents a full-color scene and a few words of easily predicted, often rhyming text: “Bear is big. Bear is brown. Bear goes up. He comes down.” Big Bear climbs a ladder with a pail of blue paint, while nearby, Little Bear plays with a ball and bat—“Oh no! Little Bear! Do not do that!” These are simple words, but sometimes challenging ones, e.g., there are two uses of up, as in climbing the ladder and washing up. The pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations provide nearly ideal context, while also amplifying the story. The format is attractive and practical, featuring large type on a white background that is placed for easy reading. Beginning readers will be amused by the gentle humor in the book, and feel accomplished to have tackled it themselves. (Picture book. 5-7)