Appealing storytelling conveys the importance of preparation and awareness for young hikers.
Two children enjoy a challenging hiking adventure with their parents.
In this informative and entertaining debut picture book for elementary school students, Alice (the story’s first-person narrator) and her younger brother, Jack, learn that their parents intend to take them on a hiking trip into the Grand Canyon. During four months of preparation, Mom and Dad enlist them in the planning. To help acclimate the group for the arduous climb, the White family takes daytime “practice hikes.” The four also go on a local overnight hiking trip to experience using their new gear and setting up camp. The rest of the tale focuses on the Grand Canyon adventure through Alice’s eyes. She learns about its history and culture, stargazes, crosses over the rushing Colorado River, meets other campers and a mule train, and traverses steep switchbacks to the bottom of the canyon and back up again. A notably polished collaboration between mother-and-daughter authors Schweitzer and Graves and illustrator Robinson, this simple but well-conceived story is framed around useful tips for safe, fun family outdoor trips, from the importance of planning and practice hikes to the value of protective gear for sudden changes in weather and “one step at a time” encouragement if a young adventurer becomes anxious. Robinson’s deft illustrations are colorful, illuminating, and lively, and the large, clear text is perfect for young readers. The aftermatter includes facts about Grand Canyon National Park and a resource bibliography.
Appealing storytelling conveys the importance of preparation and awareness for young hikers.Pub Date: April 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73631-060-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Opalave Publishing, LLC
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Quirky, unexpected fun.
From the Geisel Award–winning team behind See the Cat (2020) comes another surprising, amusing, and educational treat for beginning readers.
With a “One…two…three,” an unseen narrator tells light-skinned Jack, brown-skinned Jill, and Rex the smiling pooch to “Go and Get” objects beginning with a given letter. Rex (less excitable than Max, the previous series’ star) wordlessly woofs but is revealed to be cleverer than readers might initially assume. For the letter F, the kids bring a “FROG” and a “FISH,” but Rex brings a duck…who is quickly revealed to be a “FRIEND.” For the letters S and M, Jill returns with a “SKUNK” and a “MOOSE,” while Rex persists with ducks—who slyly turn out to fulfill the requirements (a pair of “SISTERS” and a group of “MUSICIANS”). Finally, it’s time for the letter D! While Jack rides in on a “DINOSAUR in a DRESS with a DRUM,” and Jill produces a “DRAGON at a DESK drawing a DAISY,” Rex is empty-handed. The narrator is “disappointed,” until a few woofs convey that Rex is, of course, a “DOG.” Expert pacing enhances the humor. Expressive cartoons highlight the deadpan moment before the narrator (and readers) catch on to Rex’s unexpected wins, and a final spread features many D-related words.
Quirky, unexpected fun. (Early reader. 4-7)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781536222067
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bow-WOW! Who needs 100 dogs when just one cuddly, fluffy, perfect pup will do?
A girl uses cunning to get exactly what she wants.
“I want 100 dogs,” the child muses. Her nonplussed parents raise a practical question: “Where would 100 dogs sleep?” Their daughter has a ready answer: “My 100 dogs will sleep on my bed.” Parents: “More likely, 100 dogs would sleep on you.” Reconsidering, the girl asks for 90 dogs. But how will she walk them? After all, 90 dogs would walk her. And so it goes, with the child subsequently decreasing her request by 10 each time and her parents asking realistic questions about that quantity, listening to her responses, then explaining why her plans still won’t work. Examples: 70 dogs need lots of food; grooming 30 dogs would be very messy; and—unhappiest prospect—guess who’d clean up after 10 dogs “go number 2”? Finally, the child “settles” for just one and chooses a floppy-eared pooch at a shelter. Her parents can’t believe they talked her out of 100 dogs; the girl can’t believe she talked her parents into getting one—clearly, her plan all along. This is a humorous, imaginative tale with a comically ironic ending; the child-parent relationship is close, warm, and playful. There’s good counting-backward-by-10s practice here, too. The digital illustrations are funny, with each parental question and the girl’s responses vividly, dynamically portrayed. The gap-toothed daughter and both parents are tan-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Bow-WOW! Who needs 100 dogs when just one cuddly, fluffy, perfect pup will do? (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9781797214405
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
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