Curiosity and ingenuity in a mild fall mystery.
A group of animals discovers a large, round, orange object with a green stem and begins to question and surmise its usefulness and possibilities.
Squirrel and Field Mouse push it out of the way, and it rolls to a stop where Opossum is napping. Opossum thinks it makes a rather comfortable chair. Raccoon is sure it is a table to support a plate of cookies. Soon others join in to enjoy the cookies and cider, which Opossum contributes. While the impromptu party is in full swing, Woodchuck explains the object would make a good doorstop. As day turns to night, Skunk professes that it’s really a lamp and demonstrates how to carve it out and place a candle inside the now-smiling face. The pulp and seeds are then used for pie and roasting, which everyone snacks on till they hunker down for winter. When they emerge in the newly verdant spring, they discover a plant that produces a flower, which then becomes an orange, round object and…it’s party time again. These unclothed but otherwise anthropomorphic cartoon creatures never actually say the name of this autumn gourd, leaving it to kids to express the obvious, only acknowledged in the title. The somewhat lengthy text spins out its premise deliberately, and kids who know very well that it’s a pumpkin and what a pumpkin is for may tire of the speculation, but the community interactions are charming to watch.
Curiosity and ingenuity in a mild fall mystery. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8075-1216-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to...
A hug shouldn’t require an instruction manual—but some do.
A porcupine can frighten even the largest animal. In this picture book, a bear and a deer, along with a small rabbit, each run away when they hear eight simple words and their name: “I need a hug. Will you cuddle me,…?” As they flee, each utters a definitive refusal that rhymes with their name. The repetitive structure gives Blabey plenty of opportunities for humor, because every animal responds to the question with an outlandish, pop-eyed expression of panic. But the understated moments are even funnier. Each animal takes a moment to think over the request, and the drawings are nuanced enough that readers can see the creatures react with slowly building anxiety or, sometimes, a glassy stare. These silent reaction shots not only show exquisite comic timing, but they make the rhymes in the text feel pleasingly subtle by delaying the final line in each stanza. The story is a sort of fable about tolerance. It turns out that a porcupine can give a perfectly adequate hug when its quills are flat and relaxed, but no one stays around long enough to find out except for an animal that has its own experiences with intolerance: a snake. It’s an apt, touching moral, but the climax may confuse some readers as they try to figure out the precise mechanics of the embrace.
This is a tremendously moving story, but some people will be moved only on the second reading, after they’ve Googled “How to pet a porcupine.” (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-29710-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Let these crayons go back into their box.
The Crayons return to celebrate Easter.
Six crayons (Red, Orange, Yellow, Esteban, who is green and wears a yellow cape, White, and Blue) each take a shape and scribble designs on it. Purple, perplexed and almost angry, keeps asking why no one is creating an egg, but the six friends have a great idea. They take the circle decorated with red shapes, the square adorned with orange squiggles “the color of the sun,” the triangle with yellow designs, also “the color of the sun” (a bit repetitious), a rectangle with green wavy lines, a white star, about which Purple remarks: “DID you even color it?” and a rhombus covered with blue markings and slap the shapes onto a big, light-brown egg. Then the conversation turns to hiding the large object in plain sight. The joke doesn’t really work, the shapes are not clear enough for a concept book, and though colors are delineated, it’s not a very original color book. There’s a bit of clever repartee. When Purple observe that Esteban’s green rectangle isn’t an egg, Esteban responds, “No, but MY GOSH LOOK how magnificent it is!” Still, that won’t save this lackluster book, which barely scratches the surface of Easter, whether secular or religious. The multimedia illustrations, done in the same style as the other series entries, are always fun, but perhaps it’s time to retire these anthropomorphic coloring implements. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Let these crayons go back into their box. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-62105-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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