Warmth and world peace, one stitch at a time, but there are a lot of stitches to go before readers get there
The yarn gets knotty and tangled up in this tale of knitted happiness.
The village of River John in far northeastern Canada is filled with joy at the birth of a baby lamb. It brings visitors to the town, namely Count Woolliam and the Countess of Fleece and Fluff, siblings from Woolland. They want the lamb for their obsession with wool, which they use for everything from mittens to toilet paper. But they crave the warmth only for themselves, not their cold subjects. Another visitor to River John is the titular Polly, a recluse whose sweetheart died in a long-ago war and who crafts in every way possible using yarn. She has a very special project in mind, and only the wool from the lamb, named Star, can be used. The Count and Countess are convinced to leave Star with the villagers so that Polly and the local women can use its wool. The message is delivered via a homophone: there is love and wool enough for the whole world so share this “yarn” of a tale. The writing is overlong, overwrought, and overfull of alliteration and wordplay. Fitch adopts a storyteller’s voice, which could have carried it, but at its substantial length, the tale makes for a read-aloud challenge. A ribbon of blue and green winds through the pages, evoking the river, the fields, the knitting, and the whole wide world enveloped in wooly love.
Warmth and world peace, one stitch at a time, but there are a lot of stitches to go before readers get there . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-927917-10-7
Page Count: 68
Publisher: Running the Goat
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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
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