Whether they are landlubbers or seasoned sailors, readers will be pleased to meet this tenacious kitty and even happier to...
Delicious language and a winsome feline ensure that this new iteration of an oft-told plot will find an appreciative audience.
A terribly thin, wide-eyed orange-and-white cat has clearly fallen on hard times, though he remembers having a home. Root’s evocative description of his condition (“He was lonely. He was little. He was lost”) will tug on listeners’ heart strings. They’ll sympathize when strangers yell at him to “Get out of here!” and worry when a big dog chases him down the street of a seaside town. Luckily, a sudden storm startles the dog and sends him scurrying away. The same storm unexpectedly liberates the dinghy in which the cat has hastily hidden and sets him on the watery path to a new home. Friend’s gouache paintings, including vignettes, single pages and double page spreads, illuminate the straightforward action, starting in an old-fashioned New England port and ending up on a lovely tree-covered island. She captures the fluctuating reactions of the cat perfectly, keeping the focus on the emotional heart of the tale even when the scenery seems likely to swallow him up.
Whether they are landlubbers or seasoned sailors, readers will be pleased to meet this tenacious kitty and even happier to know he’s found cozy comfort in a home with a caring companion. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4164-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
Young readers will be “antsy” to join the hero on her satisfying escapade.
An ant explores her world.
Addie Ant’s ready for adventure. Despite some trepidation about leaving the Tomato Bed, where she lives with her aunt, she plucks up her courage and ventures forth across the garden to the far side of the shed. On her journey, she meets her pal Lewis Ladybug, who greets her warmly, points the way, and offers sage advice. When Addie arrives at her destination, she’s welcomed by lovely Beatrix Butterfly and enjoys an “ant-tastic” helping of watermelon. Beatrix also provides Addie with take-home treats and a map for the “Cricket Express,” which will take her straight home. Arriving at the terminal, Addie’s delighted to meet another friend, Cleo Cricket, whose carriage service returns Addie home in “two hops.” After eating a warm tomato soup dinner, Addie falls asleep and dreams of future exploits. Adorable though not terribly original, this story brims with sensuous pleasures, both textual and visual. Kids who declare that they dislike fruits or veggies may find their mouths watering at the mentions and sights of luscious tomatoes, peas, beans, watermelons, berries, and other foodstuffs; insect-averse readers may likewise think differently after encountering these convivial, wide-eyed characters. And those flowers and herbs everywhere! The highlights are the colors that burst from the pages. Addie’s an endearing, empowering character who reassures children they’ll be able to take those first independent steps successfully.
Young readers will be “antsy” to join the hero on her satisfying escapade. (author’s note about ants) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781797228914
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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