A useful narrative that, one fervently hopes, will become obsolete before too long.
These are the times that try everyone’s souls—even a cat’s.
Levin, a rambunctious feline, lives with Jane, a nurse. The Covid-19 pandemic is raging, and Jane, like other medical professionals, works at her hospital for long hours and isn’t at home much. Levin misses her. Then Daniel, Jane’s friend and another community first responder, tells Levin that Jane’s assigned to the isolation unit and won’t be home at all for a while. Daniel cares for Levin and helps him “visit” Jane via phone conferencing. Eventually, Levin moves elsewhere and makes new animal and human friends and enemies. He also willingly becomes something of a community helper himself, knowing that everyone must pull together in a crisis. This gently told, hopeful, nonfrightening tale, translated from Chinese and obviously set in the present moment, isn’t so much a story as it is purpose-driven: It aims to help youngsters easily understand what the current emergency is about and what it demands of everyone. Casting a loving, sympathetic pet as the protagonist makes the story accessible, comprehensible, and upbeat. Children who know frontline workers will find support here. Illustrations are sweet and lively; Levin is spunky, energetic, and personable. Common-sense recommended guidelines about social distancing and mask wearing are incorporated into a spread; the passage of weeks is depicted with digital clocks. Jane and Daniel both have pale skin and straight, brown hair; background characters are diverse.
A useful narrative that, one fervently hopes, will become obsolete before too long. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64074-119-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cardinal Media
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors.
A confused squirrel overreacts to the falling autumn leaves.
Relaxing on a tree branch, Squirrel admires the red, gold, and orange leaves. Suddenly Squirrel screams, “One of my leaves is…MISSING!” Searching for the leaf, Squirrel tells Bird, “Someone stole my leaf!” Spying Mouse sailing in a leaf boat, Squirrel asks if Mouse stole the leaf. Mouse calmly replies in the negative. Bird reminds Squirrel it’s “perfectly normal to lose a leaf or two at this time of year.” Next morning Squirrel panics again, shrieking, “MORE LEAVES HAVE BEEN STOLEN!” Noticing Woodpecker arranging colorful leaves, Squirrel queries, “Are those my leaves?” Woodpecker tells Squirrel, “No.” Again, Bird assures Squirrel that no one’s taking the leaves and that the same thing happened last year, then encourages Squirrel to relax. Too wired to relax despite some yoga and a bath, the next day Squirrel cries “DISASTER” at the sight of bare branches. Frantic now, Squirrel becomes suspicious upon discovering Bird decorating with multicolored leaves. Is Bird the culprit? In response, Bird shows Squirrel the real Leaf Thief: the wind. Squirrel’s wildly dramatic, misguided, and hyperpossessive reaction to a routine seasonal event becomes a rib-tickling farce through clever use of varying type sizes and weights emphasizing his absurd verbal pronouncements as well as exaggerated, comic facial expressions and body language. Bold colors, arresting perspectives, and intense close-ups enhance Squirrel’s histrionics. Endnotes explain the science behind the phenomenon.
A hilarious autumnal comedy of errors. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-3520-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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