A solid effort that will please children and parents alike.
When the moon fails to appear above his skylight one night, a young boy sets out to find the thief who stole it.
Bertie Brown likes to lie in his bed at night and gaze at the moon. One evening it isn’t visible, so he assumes that it must have been stolen. Bertie apologetically asks a host of animals if they have taken it, but they all say no. He finally comes upon a wise owl that explains that the moon hasn’t vanished; the clouds are hiding it from view. There are plenty of interactive and educational opportunities throughout the book’s 23 pages. Unusual animals are introduced; one screen is viewed through a telescope that moves around the page; ladybugs and fireflies change colors when tapped. Kudos to Gerasimov for creating magical illustrations that are sure to feed fertile imaginations. The developer also deserves significant props for bringing the images to life in subtle but powerful ways. Children may wonder, though, how this dedicated watcher of the skies will never have noticed clouds before. Another weak spot is the bonus “vignettes” that feature eight original songs. The tunes are sincere and pleasant enough, but not particularly well crafted, especially the lyrics, which seem to pander primarily to rhyme and meter. Other bonus features include an arcade-type game, several thematic matching challenges and a host of puzzles.
A solid effort that will please children and parents alike. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)Pub Date: March 5, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: WindyPress
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
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)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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