This witty tale evokes a strong sense of family with an underlying message of self-acceptance. Young Spoon is one of a large clan that ranges from measuring spoons to ladles, from refined Aunt Silver to elaborate commemorative spoons to a spork who stands uncertainly to one side. Spoon, with his head on a sugar-packet pillow, enjoys a bedtime story “about his adventurous great-grandmother, who fell in love with a dish and ran off to a distant land.” Feeling “blue” (he’s perched on a bowl of blueberries), he suffers an identity crisis. Perhaps he’d rather be Knife, who gets to cut and spread, or Fork, who gets to twirl spaghetti, or the “cool and exotic” Chopsticks? But the others envy Spoon as well, for the special things that only a spoon can do, such as measure and relax in a hot cup of tea. Rosenthal takes the daffy concept and runs with it, gracefully folding her lesson into the whimsy. Magoon’s expressive line drawings reveal the feelings of the various utensils with wonderful humor and pleasingly muted colors. Hurrah for Spoon! (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: April 7, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4231-0685-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2009
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
This appealing work is an excellent addition to any emotional-intelligence shelf.
Author/illustrator Doerrfeld gives children a model for how to process difficult events and provide meaningful support to friends who need it.
Taylor is excited to build a block tower, but then a flock of birds swoops in and knocks it all down. Different animal friends try to help, in ways that cleverly mirror their nature: the bear shouts, the ostrich buries its head in the wreckage, and the snake hisses about revenge. But what Taylor (who is never referred to with gendered pronouns) really needs is to explore a whole range of emotional responses to loss, without being asked to perform any specific feeling. A cuddly rabbit shows up and just listens, giving Taylor—an expressive child with light skin, curly dark hair, and blue-and-white–striped one-piece pajamas—space for the whole process, going from grief to anger to resolution. The illustrations are spare yet textured, and the pace is excellent for reading aloud, with lots of opportunities for funny voices and discussion starters about supporting anyone through a hard time. Despite the obvious takeaway, this story doesn’t feel overly moralizing or didactic. Keeping the focus on the small tragedy of tumbled blocks makes it young-child–appropriate, with opportunities for deeper connections with an older audience.
This appealing work is an excellent addition to any emotional-intelligence shelf. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2935-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
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