Nice but unexceptional—once the fun of lifting the gatefolds is past.
The animals have their own, surprising ways of having fun.
Seven two-page spreads offer a fairly normal picture of zoo activity accompanied by a bright bit of verse. But open the folded-over right-hand page and... the monkeys "swing from vines / with the greatest of ease. / They gobble-gulp bananas / and screech in the trees. / But when no-one's looking...," they frolic in a big swimming pool, wearing bathing caps and goggles, with one even reading a book on a raft, a drink (complete with umbrella) clutched in one foot. The giraffes secretly like to water ski, the seals dance in a beautiful ballroom, and the elephants love to go skateboarding. Who knew? The bears sniff and growl when the visitors to the zoo are watching, but secretly they have a snappy combo of piano, bass, flute and tambourine. The final spread has all the animals staring at the reader: "When no-one is looking / what do you do?" All different kinds of play turns out to be the answer. Fraillon's poems have crisp rhythms and some nice phonic touches; with no verse on the hidden pages, though, they feel rather incomplete. Masciullo's paintings are bright and beautifully textured, but her figures are disappointingly generic.
Nice but unexceptional—once the fun of lifting the gatefolds is past. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1921502460
Page Count: 25
Publisher: Trafalgar Square
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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