A preschooler drags her father from his comfy bed for adventures on the landmark Brooklyn Promenade. Well-known as a tourist magnet for its striking views of Manhattan from across New York City's East River, the Promenade is also a haven for the urban residents. Singer's (The Circus Lunicus, 2000, etc.) well-chosen spare sentences describe the simple joys of early childhood, "What will she see today? / A blue car? / A yellow car? / A ship with a flag?" Delightful interactions of father and daughter, " 'Vroom! Zoom!' roars Didi. / 'Wide glide' says Daddy. / Side by side they pretend to ride." Singer masterfully captures the young girl's short attention span from page to page: vehicle spotting, petting puppies, listening to birds, cars, and music, dancing, meeting friends, sliding, playing in the sandbox—all of this on a ribbon of pavement built above the Brooklyn/Queens expressway. Parents will recognize the knowing refrain " 'Didi, go slow!' / But Didi says, " 'No!' ” The watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations capture the distinctive qualities of each inhabitant enjoying the day, from the movement of the street musicians to the multitude of dogs, in addition to portraying the uniqueness of place—the wind blowing inland, the light on the river. Small details reflect a knowing eye while giving readers lots to examine. The sweeping panoramic views are strikingly reproduced on double-paged spreads and those who know the area can spot familiar sites from the Statue of Liberty to the twin towers on down to the Brooklyn Bridge. (author's note) (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: March 19, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-04640-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2001
Sweet.
A caregiving bear shares with its cub how love has defined their relationship from the first moment and through the years as the cub has grown.
With rhymes and a steady rhythm that are less singsong-y than similar books, Stansbie seems to have hit a sweet spot for this offering on the I-love-you-always shelf. Readers follow the adult and child as they share special moments together—a sunset, a splash in a pond, climbing a tree, a snuggle—and the adult tells the child that the love it feels has only grown. Stansbie also takes care not to put promises in the adult bear’s mouth that can’t be delivered, acknowledging that physical proximity is not always possible: “Wherever you are, / even when we’re apart… // I’ll love you forever / with all of my heart.” The large trim size helps the sweet illustrations shine; their emphasis is on the close relationship between parent and child. Shaped peekaboo windows offer glimpses of preceding and succeeding pages, images and text carefully placed to work whatever the context. While the die cuts on the interior pages will not hold up to rough handling, they do add whimsy and delight to the book as a whole: “And now that you’re bigger, / you make my heart sing. / My / beautiful / wonderful / magical / thing.” Those last three adjectives are positioned in leaf-shaped cutouts, the turn of the page revealing the roly-poly cub in a pile of leaves, three formed by the die-cuts. Opposite, three vignettes show the cub appreciating the “beautiful,” the “wonderful,” and the “magical.”
Sweet. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68412-910-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Dolphin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
Animated and educational.
A hare and a ground squirrel banter about the differences between related animals that are often confused for one another.
Jack is “no Flopsy, Mopsy, or Cottontail,” but a “H-A-R-E, hare!” Like sheep and goats, or turtles and tortoises, rabbits and hares may look similar, but hares are bigger, their fur changes color in the winter, and they are born with their eyes wide open. As the ground squirrel (not to be mistaken for a chipmunk (even though Jack cheekily calls it “Chippie”) and Jack engage in playful discussion about animals, a sneaky coyote prowls after them through the Sonoran Desert. This picture book conveys the full narrative in spirited, speech-bubbled dialogue set on expressive illustrations of talking animals. Dark outlines around the characters make their shapes pop against the softly blended colors of the desert backgrounds. Snappy back-and-forth paired with repetition and occasional rhyme enhances the story’s appeal as a read-aloud. As the story progresses, the colors of the sky shift from dawn to dusk, providing subtle, visual bookends for the narrative. One page of backmatter offers a quick guide to eight easily confused pairs, and a second turns a subsequent exploration of the book into a seek-and-find of 15 creatures (and one dessert) hidden in the desert. Unfortunately, while most of the creatures from the seek-and-find appear in poses that match the illustrations in the challenge, not all of them are consistently represented. (This book was reviewed digitally with 7-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 53.3% of actual size.)
Animated and educational. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-12506-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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