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THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit


Books by Bert Kitchen

WHOO GOES THERE? by Jennifer A. Ericsson
ADVENTURE
Released: Oct. 1, 2009
by Jennifer A. Ericsson, illustrated by Bert Kitchen
"A mixed bag, this needs a carefully chosen audience. (Picture book. 3-7)"
A hungry owl in a tall tree watches, listens and waits for his dinner. Read full book review >
THE BREMEN TOWN MUSICIANS by Doris Orgel
ANIMALS
Released: Oct. 1, 2004
adapted by Doris Orgel, illustrated by Bert Kitchen
"A beautiful family gift book. (Folklore. 5-9)"
Similar in format to this team's The Lion and the Mouse and Other Aesop's Fables, this handsomely designed collection of retellings of six Grimm stories is distinctive in voice and image. Read full book review >
THE LION AND THE MOUSE by Doris Orgel
ANIMALS
Released: Sept. 1, 2000
Kirkus Star
by Doris Orgel, illustrated by Bert Kitchen
"A story collection that amply repays revisits. (Folk tales. 6-9)"
Grandly posed, with every whisker and hair not only in place but distinctly visible, Kitchen's noble, masterfully realistic animals make this far and away the most sumptuous "Aesop" in years. Read full book review >
THE FROG by Sally Tagholm
ANIMALS
Released: May 1, 2000
by Sally Tagholm, illustrated by Bert Kitchen
"These are handsome, informative, inexpensive titles with outstanding illustrations. (frog facts, Web sites and organizations for more information, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 7-10)"
Seldom has a common frog looked so regal, outside of a fairy tale, as in this gloriously illustrated life cycle. Read full book review >
WHEN HUNGER CALLS by Bert Kitchen
ANIMALS
Released: Sept. 1, 1994
by Bert Kitchen, illustrated by Bert Kitchen
"He just portrays animals doing what they do to survive, and he does it in elegant detail. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 4+)"
 In his third book on animal behavior, author/illustrator Kitchen (Somewhere Today, 1992, etc.) highlights the eating habits of 12 animal predators. Read full book review >
AND SO THEY BUILD by Bert Kitchen
ANIMALS
Released: Sept. 1, 1993
by Bert Kitchen, illustrated by Bert Kitchen

 An artist known for his elegant sense of design and meticulous paintings (Animal Alphabet, 1984, ALA Notable) depicts 12 animal-built structures: Australia's mallee fowl make self- warming nests of composting vegetable matter covered with sand, controlling the temperature until their eggs hatch; Africa's Cubeterme termites build columns of soil, riddled with chambers for different functions and topped with an umbrella-like cap to ``divert torrential rain''; a pregnant harvest mouse weaves a nest of still-rooted grasses, so that the nest continues to rise to greater safety. Read full book review >
SOMEWHERE TODAY by Bert Kitchen
ANIMALS
Released: Sept. 1, 1992
by Bert Kitchen, illustrated by Bert Kitchen
"Not for reference, but to use as a reminder of creation's beauty, and for simple enjoyment of the art. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 4+)"
 The creator of the outstandingly elegant Animal Alphabet (1984) presents 12 beautifully composed, exquisitely detailed full-page portraits of animals in action: a sea otter floating on its back cracking mollusks; an archerfish squirting down a ladybug; a pair of eagles, talons linked, dramatically plummeting in their courtship ritual; a pair of handsome blue dung beetles at work; a golden dormouse curled peacefully in golden dry grass. Read full book review >
PIG IN A BARROW by Bert Kitchen
ANIMALS
Released: May 1, 1991
by Bert Kitchen, illustrated by Bert Kitchen
"For admirers of Kitchens's splendid Animal Alphabet (1984), a disappointment. (Picture book. 4-8)"
 As in Gorilla, Chinchilla (1990), some rather inane verse (``The hen in a bucket/Watches her chick,/Who's learning to balance—/A difficult trick'') serves to caption some odd pairings, in this case of animals and their containers. Read full book review >
TENREC'S TWIGS by Bert Kitchen
Released: March 15, 1989
by

Kitchen (Animal Alphabet, Animal Numbers) is a master of finely detailed, beautifully composed portraits of animals; the African animals here are delineated in his usual impeccable style. Read full book review >