A sure bet for a kid-tested, puppy-approved storytime.
Actor and author Witherspoon’s Busy Betty is back for another rollicking adventure.
Betty, a light-skinned child with enormous purple glasses and bouncy blond pigtails, always has “a MILLION questions and a BILLION ideas.” Betty’s latest idea is a big birthday surprise for Mom. To that end, Betty has enlisted best friends Mae (tan-skinned with dark hair) and Jeffrey (dark-skinned with soft locs) to help. First they list the things Betty’s mom likes. Then, exclaiming “Sweet cinnamon biscuits!” Betty lands on the idea of building a “humongous, tremendous, stupendous” backyard circus, starring the friends as clowns. The trio need costumes, makeup, a trapeze, a big tent, and most of all…a lion to tame—in the form of Betty’s dog, Frank, who is none too keen. Unfortunately, it turns out that Mom’s birthday isn’t until next month, but Betty knows just how to fix the situation. Witherspoon’s jaunty, vivid text and Yan’s pastel palette and exaggerated design effectively convey Betty’s energy and spontaneity, keeping readers on the edge of their seats with each dramatic page turn. The author and illustrator have created another familiar and easily resolved tale, likely setting the stage for an ongoing series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sure bet for a kid-tested, puppy-approved storytime. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9780593525128
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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
Whether spoken by a dinosaur or a human, this parental message clearly radiates “I’ve loved you from the start.”
The cover’s glowing golden stars are but a small hint of the parent-child love inside.
In this companion book to the creators’ I Love You, My Little Unicorn (2022), a world full of digitally created dinosaurs illustrated in eye-catching colors dominates the pages. From the start, it’s clear that dinosaur parents have the same hopes and dreams for their offspring that human parents do. Readers don’t have to be dinosaur fans to smile when the parent-and-child dinosaur pairs playfully interact and share loving glances. Take special note of the ankylosauruses, whose tails arc to form a heart beneath a sky filled with heart-shaped clouds. The text in verse shares words of unconditional parental love and support and wisdom (“please remember all these things / that I want you to know”), appropriate for humans and dinos alike. “Roar with all your might!” “Spread your wings and fly.” “Use your voice, and ask for help.” There’s even a caveat that some “days will be dark / and other shades of gray.” But “there’s always brightness up ahead.” While the loving sentiments in the storytelling are clear, words are sometimes inverted to make the rhyme work, and the verse doesn’t always follow a consistent meter, but prereading will let the story shine during quiet snuggle times.
Whether spoken by a dinosaur or a human, this parental message clearly radiates “I’ve loved you from the start.” (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781728268361
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
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