A Saturday-morning-cartoon introduction to squirrels and scatter hoarding.
Follow along as a squirrel gathers and hides food for the winter, finds and shares it during the wintry weather, and “plants” food for future winters.
The changing leaves and the narrator’s thickening coat prompt the squirrel to start caching food. Acorns, maple seeds, hazelnuts, tulip bulbs, some berries, and just a pinch of birdseed (“Birds need food for winter too”) get gathered and buried in many different hiding spots for the narrator and the other squirrels to later “seek and find.” When the snow covers the ground, the squirrels sniff out each hoard and return to their hole in a tree to feast. In the spring, caches that weren’t found can sprout and grow, sometimes producing another food source for the next winter, in this case, some pumpkins. The meter is bouncy, but the verses were clearly written with rhyme rather than meaning or reading ease in mind: “Eeek! A dog! I dash away. / He barks as up I flee. / ‘You can’t catch me from down there,’ / I chirp at him with glee.” Leschnikoff’s colorful digital mixed media illustrations highlight the cartoon narrator’s larger-than-life personality, the squirrel’s every facial expression and posed paw speaking volumes. Backmatter fills out the spare facts given in the text about squirrels’ caching behavior, their sharing and stealing food, and nine different squirrel species found around the world. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A Saturday-morning-cartoon introduction to squirrels and scatter hoarding. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781728235370
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
Yes, the Pigeon has to go to school, and so do readers, and this book will surely ease the way.
All the typical worries and excuses kids have about school are filtered through Willems’ hysterical, bus-loving Pigeon.
Told mostly in speech balloons, the bird’s monologue will have kids (and their caregivers) in stitches at Pigeon’s excuses. From already knowing everything (except whatever question readers choose to provide in response to “Go ahead—ask me a question. / Any question!”) to fearing learning too much (“My head might pop off”), Pigeon’s imagination has run wild. Readers familiar with Pigeon will recognize the muted, matte backgrounds that show off the bird’s shenanigans so well. As in previous outings, Willems varies the size of the pigeon on the page to help communicate emotion, the bird teeny small on the double-page spread that illustrates the confession that “I’m… / scared.” And Pigeon’s eight-box rant about all the perils of school (“The unknown stresses me out, dude”) is marvelously followed by the realization (complete with lightbulb thought bubble) that school is the place for students to practice, with experts, all those skills they don’t yet have. But it is the ending that is so Willems, so Pigeon, and so perfect. Pigeon’s last question is “Well, HOW am I supposed to get there, anyway!?!” Readers will readily guess both the answer and Pigeon’s reaction.
Yes, the Pigeon has to go to school, and so do readers, and this book will surely ease the way. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-04645-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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