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THE ROOSTER'S GIFT

From just out of the egg, Rooster is imbued with a sense of destiny. His fuzzy siblings make puny "peeps and cheeps," but he alone speaks in "glickles and gorks and flonks" that grow into a mighty pre-dawn "Cot Cot Cot Cot Ca-toodle tooooooo!" delivered from the coop roof. Day breaks, and Rooster exultantly takes credit. No one is more impressed than Rooster himself ("He felt lifted up, charged, holy") except for Smallest Hen, whose devotion he barely acknowledges. When Rooster slips in his timing and the sun comes up anyway, Smallest Hen saves his wounded pride by showing him how much better he can announce the sunrise than she can. It ends with the pair enjoying the sunrise together, Hen still clucking her approval (" 'Well done, Rooster,' bok-bokked Smallest Hen"). Although the overtones of gender entitlement are unfortunate, Conrad (Our House, 1995, etc.) provides a rousing comic tale and Beddows's brilliantly colored illustrations— appearing nearly three-dimensional in the use of detail, sculpting, and shadow—heighten the barnyard drama. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1996

ISBN: 0-06-023603-5

Page Count: 40

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1996

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HOW TO MAKE AN APPLE PIE AND SEE THE WORLD

What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: May 2, 1994

ISBN: 0-679-83705-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994

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BECAUSE I HAD A TEACHER

A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.

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A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.

This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.

A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 1, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Compendium

Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017

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