Kids won’t want to eat the titular character, but they’ll definitely gobble this tale up.
An early bird doesn’t catch the worm.
This U.K. import, ostensibly about size comparisons, has an unseen narrator loudly scolding Marcel, a large bird, who’s apparently consumed Steve, a small worm. How does the unseen narrator know? The illustrations clearly show Marcel ambling off, a worm’s body dangling from the bird’s beak. Steve’s released unharmed, though. The lesson resumes, but the disgruntled Marcel flies off with Steve again, disrupting the proceedings. Marcel smashes into a tree and falls to the ground, and Steve drops from Marcel’s mouth. The narrator attempts the lesson again, and Marcel makes another grab for adorable, wide-eyed Steve, who’s been unperturbed about everything and has simply adjusted his tiny hat. The narrator admonishes Marcel: “YOU ARE NOT JUST LETTING YOURSELF DOWN. YOU ARE LETTING EVERYBODY DOWN.” The narrator issues an ultimate warning, finally getting around to the exercise’s original point: Marcel is big, while Steve is small. The “math lesson” draws to a close. But Marcel is now missing. The final illustration’s a hoot—Marcel finally gets some comeuppance upon encountering an even bigger predator. Talk about comparative sizes! The hilarious, crisp color illustrations incorporate creative typesetting into the artwork, wonderfully abetting the side-splitting proceedings.
Kids won’t want to eat the titular character, but they’ll definitely gobble this tale up. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9798887771311
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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
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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