The illustrator of Barry Lopez’s Crow and Weasel (1990) moves to a more delicate style and palette to create this set of winsome pictures—accompanying, unfortunately, an aimless half-story. Weary of winter, young Eva and her cat Sam embark on the zeppelin La Grande Banane for a sunny, unnamed North African country. After being driven out of their hotel room by a gang of domino-playing insects, the two take a camel named Cassis across the desert to the elegant Crocodile CafÇ, contrive to escape when they discover themselves to be featured items on tomorrow’s menu, and are last seen penning postcards to friends back home. Depicted with transparent colors and thin, graceful lines, Eva and her feline companion exude similar airs of poised self-confidence, meeting each reversal of fortune with cheerful aplomb. Readers will fall in love with these intrepid vacationers, making the plot, which never comes to more than a handful of random incidents, all the more unsatisfactory. A misfire, albeit a promising one; readers will long to see Sam and Eva again, but in a stronger story. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 7, 1999
ISBN: 0-374-32898-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-292858-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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