by Alyssa Satin Capucilli & illustrated by Pat Schories ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2001
Golden-brown puppy Biscuit seems to have arrived at superstar status: a stack of related easy-reader titles about the puppy's activities and holidays, four more titles for spring 2001, and over a million Biscuit books in print. (Can the plush toy and animated TV series be far behind?) Capucilli (Biscuit's New Trick, 2000, etc.) has written another simple story about her cavorting canine, this time about his discovery of two playful kittens. Biscuit tries to get them to play puppy-style with a ball or a stick, but the kittens are more interested in chasing insects. The story ends with the kittens still chasing a butterfly, and Biscuit following after his new friends. This entry in the My First I Can Read series is at the emergent level for the newest readers, with simple, repetitive vocabulary and just a few words in large type on each page. The story line is necessarily simplistic due to the format requirements, but there is a clear plot with a subtle lesson about joining into play with others. Biscuit is a charming little fellow, like most puppies, and Schories captures his puppy antics with her conventional illustrations in pen and ink with a watercolor wash. One welcome touch in this series is the gender of Biscuit's owner, a dark-haired little girl (rather than the usual male main character in most easy reader series), joined here by her friend, an Asian girl. Traditional and sweet, just like homemade buttermilk biscuits with honey. (Easy reader. 4-7)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-06-028069-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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by J.otto Seibold & Vivian Walsh & illustrated by J.otto Seibold ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999
Seibold and Walsh (Olive, the Other Reindeer, 1997, etc.) don’t provide much for readers to hold on to in the thick glossy pages of this oddly imagined, computer-generated tale of few words. Chongo Chingi the penguin is sleeping and dreaming. He dreams he flies with geese, and glides by an airplane, meets a metamorphosing bat, goes off into an outer space filled with sea creatures, and wakes up to his own alarm clock. The loosely rhymed text has the random sense of dreams, or of children’s own stories. The amusing images are the rounded, metallic-looking forms that characterize these collaborators’ previous books. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8118-2558-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
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by Francesca Simon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1999
In a book that shows one kind of conflict resolution, Hugo, a shy frog with a small croak, learns to be more assertive with the help of a duck. Hugo lives in terror of the big frogs, especially Pop Eyes, a bully who dumps Hugo into the pond upside down, snatches his stick, and splashes him. Duck teaches Hugo to quack loudly when threatened, and the next time the bully frogs come around, Hugo opens his mouth and bellows “QUACK!” The result of this surprising emission is that birds scatter, butterflies flutter, fish flap, and the bully frogs fall into the pond. Church’s art gives the frogs, fish, snails, and worms of this story bright colors and ping-pong-ball eyes, plus the requisite goofy expressions. A funny story, with surprises that will have toddlers giggling. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-86233-093-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
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