PLB 0-7358-1072-9 The Little Green Goose ($15.95, PLB $15.88; Apr.; 32 pp.; 0-7358-1071-0, PLB 0-7358-1072-9): Single fatherhood gets a boost in this identity tale of a goose who yearns for a child. When the egg he adopts hatches into a brilliantly colored green dragon, the other members of the barnyard make fun of his child’s origins, noting the differences between offspring and parent. To the delight of readers, the text never refers to the creature as anything but a green goose, and the underlying message of the tale—that love, not biology, makes a family—will reassure listeners. Whimsical illustrations capture the gamut of emotions and the last spread could serve as an advertisement for contentment. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7358-1071-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
Picture-book debuts for both author and illustrator result in an affectionate glimpse of intergenerational bonds. Juno loves to get letters in the red-and-blue bordered airmail envelopes that come from his grandmother, who lives in Korea, near Seoul. He cannot read Korean, but he opens the letter anyway, and learns what he can from what his grandmother has sent: a photograph of herself and her new cat, and a dried flower from her garden. When his parents read him the letter, he realizes how much he learned from the other things his grandmother mailed to him. He creates some drawings of himself, his parents, house, and dog, and sends them along with a big leaf from his swinging tree. He gets back a package that includes drawing pencils and a small airplane—the grandmother is coming to visit. The messages that can be conveyed without words, language differences between generations, and family ties across great distances are gently and affectingly handled in this first picture book. The illustrations, done in oil-paint glazes, are beautifully lit; the characters, particularly Grandmother, with her bowl of persimmons, her leafy garden, and her grey bun that looks “like a powdered doughnut,” are charming. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-670-88252-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-292858-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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