A sweet and simple cautionary tale, with a tip of the cap to the spirit of altruism.
One good deed leads to another as a pair of wombats welcome bushfire-driven refugees into their burrow.
Over the objections of Scratch, the more timorous of the two, Dig invites first a fleeing wallaby and her joey, then a koala with burned paws, and, scariest of all, a venomous tiger snake into the increasingly crowded burrow to escape the flames and smoke above. The wombats’ kindness is rewarded when the rains that come to douse the fire threaten to flood the burrow and the grateful visitors pitch in to build a barricade. “Aren’t we clever,” says Scratch afterward, “to have invited the neighbors into our home?” “Yes,” agrees Dig, viewing things from a more perceptive angle. “We are very lucky.” Unlike in Sarah L. Thomson’s similar but more naturalistic Wombat Underground: A Wildlife Survival Story (2022, illustrated by Charles Santoso), Kadarusman personifies her animal cast, and Zeng depicts them with anthropomorphic expressions and gestures—but along with putting a positive moral spin on the benefits of welcoming refugees (of any species, including ours), both offer endnote introductions to wombats and other uniquely Australian creatures as well as, overall, raising awareness of the increasing threat and incidence of wildfires Down Under. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sweet and simple cautionary tale, with a tip of the cap to the spirit of altruism. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-77278-252-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pajama Press
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Inspiration, shrink wrapped.
From an artist, poet, and Instagram celebrity, a pep talk for all who question where a new road might lead.
Opening by asking readers, “Have you ever wanted to go in a different direction,” the unnamed narrator describes having such a feeling and then witnessing the appearance of a new road “almost as if it were magic.” “Where do you lead?” the narrator asks. The Road’s twice-iterated response—“Be a leader and find out”—bookends a dialogue in which a traveler’s anxieties are answered by platitudes. “What if I fall?” worries the narrator in a stylized, faux hand-lettered type Wade’s Instagram followers will recognize. The Road’s dialogue and the narration are set in a chunky, sans-serif type with no quotation marks, so the one flows into the other confusingly. “Everyone falls at some point, said the Road. / But I will always be there when you land.” Narrator: “What if the world around us is filled with hate?” Road: “Lead it to love.” Narrator: “What if I feel stuck?” Road: “Keep going.” De Moyencourt illustrates this colloquy with luminous scenes of a small, brown-skinned child, face turned away from viewers so all they see is a mop of blond curls. The child steps into an urban mural, walks along a winding country road through broad rural landscapes and scary woods, climbs a rugged metaphorical mountain, then comes to stand at last, Little Prince–like, on a tiny blue and green planet. Wade’s closing claim that her message isn’t meant just for children is likely superfluous…in fact, forget the just.
Inspiration, shrink wrapped. (Picture book. 6-8, adult)Pub Date: March 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-26949-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2021
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