It’s Feb. 3rd and no one is paying any attention to Groundhog when just yesterday everyone wanted his weather report. Tired of this happening every year, Groundhog sets out to prove his worth. He launches into a lecture, hitting the high points of Groundhog habits, anatomy and lore. Initially, Squirrel and Crow are skeptical, but after the explanation of hibernation, both admit that groundhogs aka whistle pigs aka woodchucks are pretty cool. In the end, it seems, Groundhog gets his wish with the publication of his (this) book. Swallow makes learning about these members of the marmot family a hoot with her easy-to-read text and cheeky comments from Crow and Squirrel. In her watercolor-and-pencil illustrations, Brunkus imbues Groundhog with as much aplomb as she regularly does Junie B. Jones. Nonfiction of this quality that can be read as a picture book is rare. A wonderful update to your tired old Groundhog Day section, this begs to be performed as reader’s theater. (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-399-23876-X
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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