Amusing as well as subtly encouraging about the rewards for patience and working with what you’ve got.
The pet Charlotte Grey has long wished for and finally gets for her sixth birthday is not what she had in mind.
Charlotte is a cheerful, sturdy, bespectacled white child who lives with her white parents and Grandma Glennis, who knits and smiles benignly. The opening pages show Charlotte imagining a passel of lively, interactive, and cuddly pets, but what she gets for her birthday looks exactly like an enormous…rock. So spherical, solid, and gray is Charlotte’s new pet that readers won’t guess it’s anything but a boulder. Charlotte earnestly engages with her rock, taking it on walks and picnics, reading comics and playing games together, each wearing a matching hat. Charlotte names her pet Dennis. “We chose it together,” she tells a neighbor about the name—while the illustration shows her dropping the rock onto a grid of four name choices. Martin’s deadpan narrative voice emphasizes Charlotte’s stolid devotion to her odd pet. When Dennis, who “knew Charlotte needed a hug,” finally undergoes a sudden and dramatic change, it is Grandma who seems to be the only family member who is not surprised. Cotterill’s pen-outlined drawings and minimal color palette give her cartoon art a breezy feel that matches well with the silliness of the text.
Amusing as well as subtly encouraging about the rewards for patience and working with what you’ve got. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-99389-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together.
A clueless duckling tries to make a new friend.
He is confused by this peculiar-looking duck, who has a long tail, doesn’t waddle and likes to be alone. No matter how explicitly the creature denies he is a duck and announces that he is a cat, the duckling refuses to acknowledge the facts. When this creature expresses complete lack of interest in playing puddle stomp, the little ducking goes off and plays on his own. But the cat is not without remorse for rejecting an offered friendship. Of course it all ends happily, with the two new friends enjoying each other’s company. Bramsen employs brief sentences and the simplest of rhymes to tell this slight tale. The two heroes are meticulously drawn with endearing, expressive faces and body language, and their feathers and fur appear textured and touchable. Even the detailed tree bark and grass seem three-dimensional. There are single- and double-page spreads, panels surrounded by white space and circular and oval frames, all in a variety of eye-pleasing juxtapositions. While the initial appeal is solidly visual, young readers will get the gentle message that friendship is not something to take for granted but is to be embraced with open arms—or paws and webbed feet.
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-86990-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender...
A polar-bear parent speaks poetically of love for a child.
A genderless adult and cub travel through the landscapes of an arctic year. Each of the softly rendered double-page paintings has a very different feel and color palette as the pair go through the seasons, walking through wintry ice and snow and green summer meadows, cavorting in the blue ocean, watching whales, and playing beside musk oxen. The rhymes of the four-line stanzas are not forced, as is the case too often in picture books of this type: “When cold, winter winds / blow the leaves far and wide, / You’ll cross the great icebergs / with me by your side.” On a dark, snowy night, the loving parent says: “But for now, cuddle close / while the stars softly shine. // I’ll always be yours, / and you’ll always be mine.” As the last illustration shows the pair curled up for sleep, young listeners will be lulled to sweet dreams by the calm tenor of the pictures and the words. While far from original, this timeless theme is always in demand, and the combination of delightful illustrations and poetry that scans well make this a good choice for early-childhood classrooms, public libraries, and one-on-one home read-alouds.
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender restrictions. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-070-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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