“Edward wants to be a firefighter. One day he and Judy visit a firehouse.” So begins a day that includes both a practice fire drill and a real “emergency”—kitten up a tree. Boston terrier Edward revels in the highs and wrestles with the lows, from pretend-driving the truck to getting blasted off his feet by the fire hydrant’s spray. The Dalmatian firefighters (as well as retriever cousin Judy) display a grand, resourceful equanimity—and the daring exploits that Edward’s permitted syncopate perfectly with a three-year-old’s firefighting dreams. Teague’s full-bleed oils supply just the right balance between dramatic, dizzying perspective and resourceful, doggy competence, and the visual laughs are nicely pitched to a preschooler’s developing sense of humor. Firemice—in jackets and helmets—provide I Spy opportunities, and the charming fantasy concludes with a big parade in Edward’s honor. No depicted conflagrations here—just sure-fire fun. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-439-91500-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Watching unlikely friends finally be as “happy as two someones can be” feels like being enveloped in your very own hug.
What to do when you’re a prickly animal hankering for a hug? Why, find another misfit animal also searching for an embrace!
Sweet but “tricky to hug” little Hedgehog is down in the dumps. Wandering the forest, Hedgehog begs different animals for hugs, but each rejects them. Readers will giggle at their panicked excuses—an evasive squirrel must suddenly count its three measly acorns; a magpie begins a drawn-out song—but will also be indignant on poor hedgehog’s behalf. Hedgehog has the appealingly pink-cheeked softness typical of Dunbar’s art, and the gentle watercolors are nonthreatening, though she also captures the animals’ genuine concern about being poked. A wise owl counsels the dejected hedgehog that while the prickles may frighten some, “there’s someone for everyone.” That’s when Hedgehog spots a similarly lonely tortoise, rejected due to its “very hard” shell but perfectly matched for a spiky new friend. They race toward each other until the glorious meeting, marked with swoony peach swirls and overjoyed grins. At this point, readers flip the book to hear the same gloomy tale from the tortoise’s perspective until it again culminates in that joyous hug, a book turn that’s made a pleasure with thick creamy paper and solid binding.
Watching unlikely friends finally be as “happy as two someones can be” feels like being enveloped in your very own hug. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-571-34875-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
A lighthearted countdown in which a bear and his buddies elude the bumblings of a troop of hunters. In a voice that works well as either a jaunty sing-song or as a lullaby, Parker’s verse follows the hunters as they are eliminated, one by one, while they try to hunt down the not particularly wily bear. “Ten hairy hunters start following the trail. / Ten hairy hunters are hot on Bear’s tail. / Ten hairy hunters head into the unknown. / Shhh! Bear’s friends do some hunting of their own. / Nine hairy hunters . . . ” Bolam’s ice cream-colored cartoons follow the action as one man at a time is removed from the hunters’ file by an unlikely cast of ursine pals: elephants, giraffes, tigers, snakes, who end up adorned in their hats, shorts, and shoes. There is an excellent combination in these pages of the mildly hair-raising with the humorous, a kind of slapstick for the very young, as the hunters set traps while oblivious to the fact that they are the quarry. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-670-03546-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
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