The master of offbeat whimsy for picture-book readers ventures into the early reader with typically silly and successful results. Willems introduces two friends, Gerald the Elephant and Piggie, who, in the tradition of early-reader partners, love each other despite (or perhaps because of) their gentle foibles. In My Friend Is Sad, Piggie observes a disconsolate Elephant and dresses up as a cowboy, a clown and a robot only to find that all Elephant really wants is her company. The companion title, Today I Will Fly (ISBN: 1-4231-0295-9), highlights Piggie’s determination to fly, her enthusiasm for the task undaunted by physiological reality and Elephant’s skepticism. Uncluttered pages feature the two main characters against clean white space, highlighting the artist’s characteristic command of body language; the text is entirely comprised of dialogue, rendered in softly colored word balloons (pink for Piggie, gray for Elephant). Beginning readers will delight in these genuinely funny stories, staying one step ahead of the increasingly frantic Elephant, who does not recognize his friend in costume, and rooting for Piggie’s aeronautic success. The masterful combination of early-reader convention and sly wit make this pair of pals one to celebrate. (Easy reader. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 1-4231-0297-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
Turkey’s in the “kind of trouble where it’s almost Thanksgiving...and you’re the main course.” Accordingly, Turkey tries on disguise after disguise, from horse to cow to pig to sheep, at each iteration being told that he looks nothing like the animal he’s trying to mimic (which is quite true, as Harper’s quirky watercolors make crystal clear). He desperately squeezes a red rubber glove onto his head to pass as a rooster, only to overhear the farmer suggest a poultry plan B when he’s unable to turn up the turkey. Turkey’s horrified expression as he stands among the peppers and tomatoes—in November? Chalk it up to artistic license—is priceless, but his surroundings give him an idea. Good fun, but it may lead to a vegetarian table or two. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5529-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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