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FRIENDS FOR LIFE

Name: FRIENDS FOR LIFE
Author: Billi Tiner
ISBN: 978-1477435717

by Billi Tiner ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 12, 2012

An entertaining read that may leave young readers confused.

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Two puppies experience an unexpected adventure in Tiner’s middle-grade reader.

Bo meets Rico at a pet store after being separated from his mother for the first time. The puppies bond over their loneliness. Their chances of being adopted by a family are thrown into disarray when a pair of thieves breaks into the store and steals them both. Bo and Rico manage to escape but find themselves out on the streets for the first time in their young lives. A junkyard dog named Tank teaches them the ways of the streets. However, after Tank is unexpectedly adopted, Bo and Rico once again find themselves on their own. Months pass before the twosome happen upon Pearl, a pampered poodle who has been mistakenly left behind by her owner, Margaret. The puppies’ new mission is to find Margaret and reunite her with Pearl. Instead of concluding with Bo and Rico finding their own new homes, however, the story ends with the pair returning to the streets and happily reaffirming their friendship for one another. Tiner (Welcome Home, 2011) manages to breathe life into the book’s four main characters; Tank is perhaps the most memorable. The best scene in the book is one when Tank bonds with a firefighter; in that moment, when he “leans into the man’s embrace,” he transitions from Bo and Rico’s street-tough mentor to an average dog that needs a home. Still, the narrative could use tightening. There are moments when Bo seems to be the main character of the story and others when he and Rico seem to share the spotlight. The book is divided into two rather disparate storylines: the puppies’ youth with Tank and the adventure with Pearl. Considering the reading level of the text, the narrative would likely be better served if split apart into smaller, more easily digestible chapter books. Furthermore, the book’s theme of friendship as being more important than anything else is contradicted by the importance the narrative places on Tank finding a home and Pearl being reunited with her owner. The reader is led to believe that Bo and Rico’s story will conclude similarly, but it does not.

An entertaining read that may leave young readers confused.

Pub Date: May 12, 2012

ISBN: 978-1477435717

Page Count: 162

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2012

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S SPRINGTIME

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 2, 2018

Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.

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Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.

This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.

Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)