A favorite ancient fable beautifully presented in the tradition of the finest picture books, this does not replace Jerry...
A wee African grass mouse “receives top billing” (according to a concluding note) in this visually stunning retelling of Aesop's fable set amid the Aha Hills of Africa.
One day Mouse rushes over a “tawny boulder that lay in his path,” which, unfortunately, turns out to be King Lion, who traps Mouse and threatens to eat him. Dangling above Lion’s jaws, Mouse begs for release and asserts his bravery. Intrigued, Lion asks Mouse to demonstrate his mettle, and Mouse fiercely tilts with a blade of grass. The amused Lion releases Mouse, who prophesies, “You might need me someday, in a pinch.” A year later, Lion becomes hopelessly snared in a hunter’s trap, and Mouse rescues him by nibbling the ropes. While the elegantly simple text conveys King Lion’s transformation from negligent predator to appreciative victim, the exquisitely rendered brush, ink and pencil illustrations steal the show. Masterful use of white space, dramatic close-ups, arresting perspectives and meticulous respect for natural details memorialize the interaction between Lion and Mouse. Realistic images of Mouse pinned by Lion’s claw, suspended above Lion’s gaping mouth, acrobatically scaling a blade of grass, helpfully gnawing Lion’s ropes and looking Lion in the eye emphasize the humanity of the natural world.
A favorite ancient fable beautifully presented in the tradition of the finest picture books, this does not replace Jerry Pinkney's transcendent, Caldecott-winning The Lion & the Mouse but proudly takes its place beside it. (Picture book. 3 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-545-10147-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Michael di Capua/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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