Little blue Bug and little brown Bear become unlikely friends. Bear wants to take a nap, but Bug, with big eyes and a perpetual smile, wants to play, and buzzes all around Bear's head. (Bug's dialogue often snakes across the page in imitation of his flight pattern.) Bear lumbers off toward her cave and Bug gets distracted by some flowers. After counting to 10, he gives chase anew; maybe now Bear's ready to play! But no; frustrated and exhausted, Bear tells Bug to "Buzz off! Go jump in the lake!" and goes into her cave. But she tosses and turns and can't fall asleep. Maybe she should have been nicer to Bug? Bear finds Bug in the lake (that she told him to jump into!); he has been trying to be a water bug, and now he wants a nap. Just what Bear wants to hear; after a heartfelt apology, the two new friends share a snooze. Marlow's illustrations—in gouache, pencil, watercolor and crayon—have a soft focus, amplified by their being laid on a brown-cardstock background (like the inside of a cereal box). In vignettes and full- and double-page spreads, their gentle humor nicely enhances and advances Bonwill's deftly written tale. Apt for the very young. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5902-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: Feb. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A forgettable tale.
Dot, the smallest reindeer at the North Pole, is too little to fly with the reindeer team on Christmas Eve, but she helps Santa in a different, unexpected way.
Dot is distressed because she can’t jump and fly like the other, bigger reindeer. Her family members encourage her and help her practice her skills, and her mother tells her, “There’s always next year.” Dot’s elf friend, Oliver, encourages her and spends time playing with her, doing things that Dot can do well, such as building a snowman and chasing their friend Yeti (who looks like a fuzzy, white gumdrop). On Christmas Eve, Santa and the reindeer team take off with their overloaded sleigh. Only Dot notices one small present that’s fallen in the snow, and she successfully leaps into the departing sleigh with the gift. This climactic flying leap into the sleigh is not adequately illustrated, as Dot is shown just starting to leap and then already in the sleigh. A saccharine conclusion notes that being little can sometimes be great and that “having a friend by your side makes anything possible.” The story is pleasant but predictable, with an improbably easy solution to Dot’s problem. Illustrations in a muted palette are similarly pleasant but predictable, with a greeting-card flavor that lacks originality. The elf characters include boys, girls, and adults; all the elves and Santa and Mrs. Claus are white.
A forgettable tale. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-15738-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
More of the same from a kid who does what he does so well.
The circular-headed, triangular-toothed protagonist of Shannon’s Caldecott Honor–winning No, David! (1998) returns to prove once and for all that humor is subjective.
An author’s note at the book’s beginning observes that, for kids, the line between funny and not funny is meant to be constantly tested. Enter David. Written entirely in admonishments by authority figures such as parents and teachers, the book stresses that David makes mischief not for the sake of being a nuisance, but more because it amuses him deeply (even if he’s the only one who’s amused). He might blow bubbles in his drink one moment or perform a cannonball in a crowded pool the next. The narrators—generally unseen, though readers catch glimpses of adults’ hands and legs—protest, “That’s not funny!” or “You always go too far!” Still, David can’t seem to stop himself, which sometimes leads to painful consequences, like getting his head stuck between the bars on a porch or inadvertently wedging a peanut up his nose. A final admittance by a caregiver that sometimes David is funny (“What am I going to do with you?”) caps everything off warmly. While there’s little to distinguish this from previous David books, Shannon still knows how to appeal to readers. In the energetic, highly expressive art, David is tan-skinned; the supporting cast is diverse.
More of the same from a kid who does what he does so well. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781546123187
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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