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THE VERY STUFFED TURKEY

A nice respite from tales of Pilgrims and of turkeys hiding from farmers.

Turkey loves to eat, and he loves his barnyard friends…but how many Thanksgiving dinners can one turkey eat?

“Pig, Horse, Goat and Sheep, Cow, and Mouse had each invited him to Thanksgiving dinner at their homes.” When Turkey thinks of all that good cooking, he’s sure he can handle five dinners. After stomach-stretching exercises, he heads to Pig’s for a yummy stew (worms included). He clears his plate and thinks it’s wonderful to feel a part of the family. After a nosh at Horse’s, Turkey has that same wonderful feeling playing race with the family. On to Goat and Sheep’s, Cow’s, and Mouse’s, where again he feels wonderfully at home (though his vest gets tighter and tighter). During the Mouse family parade, Turkey sees all his friends come out to watch; he’s so surprised and stuffed, Turkey topples over. He thinks it was worth it to spend time with all his friends…but next year, he decides he’ll just host them all at his house. Kenah’s holiday turkey tale of friendship and food will make animal lovers and vegetarians smile. Turkey, who looks both a little platypuslike and a little chickenesque in Talib’s textured cartoon illustrations, obviously enjoys all the company as much as he does stuffing his beak.

A nice respite from tales of Pilgrims and of turkeys hiding from farmers. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-545-76109-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015

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WILL YOU BE MY FRIEND?

Readers are likely to love it to the moon and back.

Little Nutbrown Hare ventures out into the wide world and comes back with a new companion in this sequel to Guess How Much I Love You (1994).

Big Nutbrown Hare is too busy, so after asking permission, Little Nutbrown Hare scampers off over the rolling meadow to play by himself. After discovering that neither his shadow nor his reflection make satisfactory playmates (“You’re only another me!”), Little Nutbrown comes to Cloudy Mountain…and meets “Someone real!” It’s a white bunny who introduces herself as Tipps. But a wonderful round of digging and building and chasing about reaches an unexpected end with a game of hide-and-seek, because both hares hide! After waiting a long time to be found, Little Nutbrown Hare hops on home in disappointment, wondering whether he’ll ever see Tipps again. As it turns out, it doesn’t take long to find out, since she has followed him. “Now, where on earth did she come from?” wonders Big Nutbrown. “Her name is Tipps,” Little Nutbrown proudly replies, “and she’s my friend.” Jeram’s spacious, pale-toned, naturalistic outdoor scenes create a properly idyllic setting for this cozy development in a tender child-caregiver relationship—which hasn’t lost a bit of its appealing intimacy in the more than 25 years since its first appearance. As in the first, Big Nutbrown Hare is ungendered, facilitating pleasingly flexible readings.

Readers are likely to love it to the moon and back. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-5362-1747-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020

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I'M A HARE, SO THERE!

Animated and educational.

A hare and a ground squirrel banter about the differences between related animals that are often confused for one another.

Jack is “no Flopsy, Mopsy, or Cottontail,” but a “H-A-R-E, hare!” Like sheep and goats, or turtles and tortoises, rabbits and hares may look similar, but hares are bigger, their fur changes color in the winter, and they are born with their eyes wide open. As the ground squirrel (not to be mistaken for a chipmunk (even though Jack cheekily calls it “Chippie”) and Jack engage in playful discussion about animals, a sneaky coyote prowls after them through the Sonoran Desert. This picture book conveys the full narrative in spirited, speech-bubbled dialogue set on expressive illustrations of talking animals. Dark outlines around the characters make their shapes pop against the softly blended colors of the desert backgrounds. Snappy back-and-forth paired with repetition and occasional rhyme enhances the story’s appeal as a read-aloud. As the story progresses, the colors of the sky shift from dawn to dusk, providing subtle, visual bookends for the narrative. One page of backmatter offers a quick guide to eight easily confused pairs, and a second turns a subsequent exploration of the book into a seek-and-find of 15 creatures (and one dessert) hidden in the desert. Unfortunately, while most of the creatures from the seek-and-find appear in poses that match the illustrations in the challenge, not all of them are consistently represented. (This book was reviewed digitally with 7-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 53.3% of actual size.)

Animated and educational. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-358-12506-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

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