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MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS

Dylan fans extant in 1979 when his album Slow Train Coming was released won’t be able to keep his rasping voice out of their heads, but that shouldn’t impair their appreciation, or children’s, of this wonderfully imaginative visualization of the lyrics. The book starts off, logically enough, “in the beginning,” as a painted man stands on the skin of the earth and contemplates animal-shaped constellations in a starry sky. However, readers immediately realize that he’s standing on a photographed potato skin, an apt collage element, and that such combinations of painting and photograph will run through every page. A painted pig appears in the middle of a real bed of hay, while the collage horns of a bull look demonic in a full-bleed spread of brightest red, with a photographed crowd in the stands, and a matador who is offstage except for his brocade-wrapped arms and a wisp of his taunting cape. The images continue in a splendid visual extension of Dylan’s wry wit; children will delight in the chance to supply the final animal’s name themselves. (Picture book. 3-10)

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-15-202005-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999

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RED-EYED TREE FROG

Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)

Pub Date: March 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-590-87175-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999

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QUACK AND COUNT

Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-15-292858-8

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999

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