Fun for one or two reads, but, unlike Cub, it probably won't have much staying power.
Free-spirited artwork with colors of psychedelic intensity smooths the rather fitful nature of this race through the jungle.
The animals are getting ready for the jungle run. There’s a hippopotamus, a rhinoceros, an elephant and other major players in the bestiary, so when “Cub turns up to take her place, / …the others say, ‘You’re too small to race.’ ” But the rhyming text is too light-hearted to throw much of a wet blanket on the proceedings, and the cub proves to be an adept at the various obstacles on the course, quickly pulling into the lead as the python and gazelle get tangled in the vine net. At the rope swing, Cub makes like a pendulum while Elephant misses altogether and falls in the creek. The others use his sizeable noggin as a stepping stone, which seems a little unsporting. At the waterslide, Cub is suddenly found riding Elephant’s back. Wasn’t Cub well in the lead, calling an inauspicious “You can’t catch me!” over her shoulder, as if tempting the Gingerbread Man’s fate? Cub does win the race through no fault of her own, and the whole event becomes a distant afterthought to Parker-Rees’ illustrations, with their cool jungle landscapes and radioactive colors. A joyful camaraderie closes the book, a welcome counterpoint to its earlier exclusivity, if another touch of randomness.
Fun for one or two reads, but, unlike Cub, it probably won't have much staying power. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-39256-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end.
Something is preventing Owl from falling asleep.
Owl leans back against his white pillow and headboard. “Squeek!” says something underneath the bed. Owl’s never heard that sound before, so he fastens his pink bathrobe and answers the front door. Nobody. It must be the wind; back to bed. Bidding himself goodnight, he climbs into bed—and hears the noise again. Time after time, he pops out of bed seeking the squeaker. Is it in the cupboard? He empties the shelves. Under the floor? He pulls up his floorboards. As Owl’s actions ratchet up—he destroys the roof and smashes the walls, all in search of the squeak—so does his anxiety. Not until he hunkers down in bed under the night sky (his bed is now outdoors, because the house’s roof and walls are gone), frantically clutching his pillow, does he see what readers have seen all along: a small, gray mouse. In simple illustrations with black outlines, textured coloring, and foreshortened perspective, Pizzoli plays mischievously with mouse placement. Sometimes the mouse is behind Owl or just out of his sightline; other times, the mouse is on a solid, orange-colored page across the spread from Owl, which removes him from Owl’s scene in a rather postmodern manner. Is the mouse toying with Owl? Who knows?
A funny tale about stress and an ever upping ante, with a comforting end. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1275-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
Animated and educational.
A hare and a ground squirrel banter about the differences between related animals that are often confused for one another.
Jack is “no Flopsy, Mopsy, or Cottontail,” but a “H-A-R-E, hare!” Like sheep and goats, or turtles and tortoises, rabbits and hares may look similar, but hares are bigger, their fur changes color in the winter, and they are born with their eyes wide open. As the ground squirrel (not to be mistaken for a chipmunk (even though Jack cheekily calls it “Chippie”) and Jack engage in playful discussion about animals, a sneaky coyote prowls after them through the Sonoran Desert. This picture book conveys the full narrative in spirited, speech-bubbled dialogue set on expressive illustrations of talking animals. Dark outlines around the characters make their shapes pop against the softly blended colors of the desert backgrounds. Snappy back-and-forth paired with repetition and occasional rhyme enhances the story’s appeal as a read-aloud. As the story progresses, the colors of the sky shift from dawn to dusk, providing subtle, visual bookends for the narrative. One page of backmatter offers a quick guide to eight easily confused pairs, and a second turns a subsequent exploration of the book into a seek-and-find of 15 creatures (and one dessert) hidden in the desert. Unfortunately, while most of the creatures from the seek-and-find appear in poses that match the illustrations in the challenge, not all of them are consistently represented. (This book was reviewed digitally with 7-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 53.3% of actual size.)
Animated and educational. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-12506-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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