Capucilli’s (Bathtime for Biscuit, not reviewed) frolicsome puppy romps through another adventure in this latest entry in the My First I Can Read Book series. Biscuit’s owner attempts to teach the energetic pup how to fetch a ball. Instead, Biscuit rolls over, retrieves a bone, and chases the cat before finally returning with the ball. Capucilli skillfully relates a lively tale using simple language. The humorous antics of the pup will hold beginning readers’ interest while brief, simple sentences and repetition of words allows them to master the tale on their own. Story and artwork are in perfect harmony. Schories’s bright illustrations capture the impetuous spirit of the frisky canine and offer visual clues to support the words. The combination of engaging text and vivacious pictures provides encouragement for reluctant readers. This continuation of the lovable puppy’s capers is a real treat and will have audiences clamoring for more. (Easy reader. 4-6)
Pub Date: April 30, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-028067-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although fine lines and a low contrast palette give Johnson's paintings a faded, smudgy look, he effectively captures the classic nursery rhyme's flavor, decking the matronly Mother Hubbard out in sweeping 19th-century gowns that are ruffled, fur- trimmed and elaborately accessorized, then dispatching her to a series of elegantly appointed shops and stalls for goods to lavish on her pampered canine. Johnson drops or rewrites several of the standard version's verses, and adds two of his own that permanently finish off said dog. The illustrations are skillfully rendered, but his interpretations are so free that young readers will search in vain for details such as the tripe, the coat, the linen, the hose, and even the bare cupboard that sparks Mother Hubbard's chain of errands; the visual humor, next to James Marshall's sly, silly take in Old Mother Hubbard and Her Wonderful Dog (1991), is decidedly mild. Notwithstanding Johnson's strong stylistic ties to illustrators such as Randolph Caldecott and E. Boyd Smith, adults are the likeliest audience for this volume. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81485-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1998
In a pleasant, calming book for sharing at bedtime, Pierson celebrates the constancy of the moon in pure and pretty images: it “mirrors” its own picture in the waters; “shares its beams” on “rocky, rugged mountains”; and spreads a “nighttime light wide over the world.” Through the eyes of a young boy peering out his window, the moon unifies the world. No matter if it is full, a sliver, or hidden, the boy finds comfort in knowing that it is always there, shining down on not only him, but on “huts of native people” and “dwellings of city people in many lands.” Brooks’s soft, blue-hued evening colors capture night moods and enhance the comforting tone of the text. A design element dresses up the lower corner of each spread, adding to the sense of balance that both story and illustrations convey. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 1-890326-17-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1998
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