ONE DAY IN THE EUCALYPTUS, EUCALYPTUS TREE

bookshelf

ONE DAY IN THE EUCALYPTUS, EUCALYPTUS TREE

Name: ONE DAY IN THE EUCALYPTUS, EUCALYPTUS TREE
Author: Daniel Bernstrom
ISBN: 978-0-06-235485-3

by Daniel Bernstrom ; illustrated by Brendan Wenzel ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 3, 2016

Marvelous fun. (Picture book. 3-8)

bookshelf

A dark-skinned “boy with a whirly-twirly toy” skips through the forest, unaware of the snake lurking in the eucalyptus tree.

That sneaky snake gobbles up the boy and his toy. From deep inside “the belly dark and deep” the intrepid boy repeats a refrain suggesting that the snake is still hungry and should eat something else, as there is certainly more room in its tummy. Finding a plethora of animals in the double-named tree, the snake eats a bird with a worm and, encouraged further, proceeds to gobble a cat, a sloth, a bear, and an entire hive filled with bees. Finally, goaded by the boy, he swallows a small piece of fruit, complete with fly. The hugely engorged snake can hold no more and gurgles and belches out all the creatures it has swallowed, including the little boy, who goes merrily on his way with his toy, leaving the snake with a massive tummy ache. Bernstrom’s spritely language rhythmically sings an exciting, laugh-filled, cumulative story. Bold, large print highlights the events as the snake slides, wiggles, and twists while the animals crinkle, munch, and buzz. Wenzel’s wildly imaginative, brightly hued digital illustrations are a wonderfully goofy complement to the action, whether depicting the goings-on in the dark tummy or the creatures’ idiosyncrasies and their bug-eyed surprise as they are consumed.

Marvelous fun. (Picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: May 3, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-235485-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
A BEAR, A BEE, AND A HONEY TREE
by Daniel Bernstrom ; illustrated by Brandon James Scott

- BOOK REVIEW
SONG IN THE CITY
by Daniel Bernstrom ; illustrated by Jenin Mohammed

- BOOK REVIEW
BIG PAPA AND THE TIME MACHINE
by Daniel Bernstrom ; illustrated by Shane W. Evans

bookshelf

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.

bookshelf

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

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

bookshelf

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among

bookshelf

Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.

If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)