A lightweight but touching tale of a helpful animal companion and his grateful owner.
Bellringer offers a novella about a mysterious but friendly farm dog.
Jayden King is a 30-year-old sheep farmer who’s lived on his own ever since his parents died 12 years ago. His home isn’t much more than a one-bedroom shack, but he makes do. One day, a dog appears on his property with its paw stuck on a barbed-wire fence; the canine seems to be some kind of shepherd mix. The dog, whom he names Moss, soon helps him locate a stuck ewe. Clearly, the animal knows its way around sheep, so Jayden checks with other locals to see if anyone knows the dog’s owner. As no one comes forward, it appears that Jayden and Moss are destined to be an excellent team. Jayden gets a new neighbor, an attorney and sheep farmer named Joseph Carter, who dislikes Moss and suspects that the dog is killing his sheep. Jayden, however, believes that a lone wolf is targeting the livestock. Hopefully, Jayden and Moss can get the wolf situation sorted out before the neighbor does something rash. When Moss later winds up in dangerous situation, it seems like it may very well be the end for the helpful pooch. Although Bellringer’s brief story moves quickly, it manages to sketch out a memorable relationship between Jayden and his “ever-faithful” dog in a manner that gives the tale some heart. For example, the author also ably shows how Moss is a complete professional with the sheep, but still has a playful side; the protagonist reflects on how his otherwise serious companion would “carry around his food bowl so that it stuck up over his face and he couldn’t see where he was going.” The main plot, though, is both straightforward and predictable; even readers who are unfamiliar with the ways of wolves will find it hard to entertain the notion that Moss could be the sheep-slaying culprit. The only truly pressing question is what will come of a potentially violent confrontation toward the end.
A lightweight but touching tale of a helpful animal companion and his grateful owner.Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2022
ISBN: 9781398426344
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Austin Macauley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 3, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
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
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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