Grizzle Grump and his odd squirrel friend are an unlikely but endearing pair.
In this sequel to Goodnight, Grizzle Grump! (2015), a huge, brown bear has trouble finding food after emerging from hibernation.
The bear is the last animal to wake up when his squirrel friend knocks on the door of his den to rouse him. The squirrel carries a large, old-fashioned picnic basket and follows the hungry bear as he searches for a “springtime snack.” Using his sense of smell, the bear finds different types of berries, then fish, and then bugs, setting each thematic feast out on a picnic cloth. Each time it’s laid out, he turns away to look for the squirrel, who is always hiding inside the picnic basket, giggling. Mysterious, furry arms reach in from off the edge of the page to steal each feast, and each succeeding page shows a group of bears marching off with the stolen food. The increasingly hungry bear and squirrel sidekick keep searching, and at last they arrive at a surprise banquet arranged by the thieving bears, with the missing food arranged on checked cloths for the group to share. The cartoon-style illustrations in colored pencil have an immediate appeal, with bug-eyed animals, detailed woodsy settings, and enlarged display type describing sound effects (“trample trudge trample trudge”). The brief text is well-paced and punchy, with lots of motion and comical details creating a humorous if not scientifically well-grounded story. (The textual implication that all the animals were hibernating makes this problematic as an extension of science curricula.)
Grizzle Grump and his odd squirrel friend are an unlikely but endearing pair. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-229749-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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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