Cute if not particularly memorable.
With the help of several animal friends and a little white girl named Julie, a little bird learns all about dental health.
Charlie the bird watches Julie conscientiously brush her teeth every day, which causes him to wonder how he can brush his. He knows that he doesn’t look after them properly. He asks Goldfish, who tells Charlie that sharks clean their sharp teeth with seaweed. When Charlie tries the same thing with some clover leaves, they just turn his beak green. Little Hamster tells Charlie that beavers use bark. This illustration, in which Charlie and Little Hamster perch on the edge of a bathtub in which a large beaver lolls, exemplifies the book’s playful sense of surrealism. The tub sits surrounded by delicate flowers; a tube of toothpaste rests on the ground. When Charlie tries to clean his teeth on a leg of the kitchen table, Julie’s mom yells at him…and he gets a sore beak. More mishaps ensue before Julie patiently explains that he can’t brush his teeth because he doesn’t have any. But she’ll help him brush his beak; it’ll be the shiniest in town. Zafrilla’s quirky characters help her lesson go down easy. Wimmer’s clever illustrations move readers and Charlie between realistic scenes and fanciful ones. The tale is fairly insubstantial, but the pages are made of water- and tear-resistant Stone Paper, made without trees or bleach.
Cute if not particularly memorable. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-84-16733-30-9
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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