Still short and sweet; still enticing new readers to engage eagerly with dog and words.
The excitable and expressive, big-eyed dog who barked enthusiastically through I See a Cat (2017) returns!
Careful observers looking at the endpapers might spot the upside-down bat sleeping in a tree outside town. On every subsequent page, there’s something new for the dog and readers to view through or against big double doors: “stars,” “moon,” “bowl” (sadly, empty, as the dog notes with an anguished expression). In four wordless vignettes, the agitated dog tosses and turns futilely with the bowl, then carries it to a sleeping boy (luckily, ignoring the sleeping cat). The dog falls calmly asleep, waking to see more bats (nonplussed expression), the sun (hopeful expression), and finally the boy—bringing food! The eloquent lines of ears, mouth, and tail convey the leaping dog’s initial joy and then blissful satisfaction. Where the earlier book used just 10 different words, this one uses 11 to tell a simple yet effective story. The sentences are reassuringly repetitive in structure (“I see a bat,” “I see the boy,” “I see the sun”); the bowl vividly punctuates the scenes; and the backgrounds offer just enough visual interest without distracting readers. The boy is curly-haired and brown-skinned.
Still short and sweet; still enticing new readers to engage eagerly with dog and words. (Early reader. 4-7)Pub Date: April 11, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-8234-5265-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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