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BLUEBERRY SHOE

Name: BLUEBERRY SHOE
Author: Ann Dixon
ISBN: 0-88240-518-7

by Ann Dixon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

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An elegant picture book that manages to combine a good story, some natural history, and unusual illustrations. A family goes up Ptarmigan Mountain to pick blueberries: a mother, a father, a pigtailed older sister, and Baby. With full buckets, they discover Baby has lost a shoe, and despite a search for it, it doesn’t turn up. The tiny red sneaker first becomes a nest for a vole, then a plaything for a fox, then a potential morsel for a bear, but in the end, it is covered by earth, seeds, and winter snows. The next year, when the family returns for berry-picking, Baby—walking on his own now—finds his shoe with a blueberry stem growing in it. He carefully carries it home to plant. The illustrations are linocuts in deep rich hues, placed on backgrounds of natural leaf impressions in various matte colors. The sinuous line of the medium is used brilliantly here in the animals’ fur and feathers, the solid, friendly figures of the family, and the stylized but recognizable flora, from blueberries to grasses. A tasty offering, laced with nice surprises. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-88240-518-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
WHEN POSEY PEEKED AT CHRISTMAS
by Ann Dixon and illustrated by Anne Kennedy

- BOOK REVIEW
HOW RAVEN BROUGHT LIGHT TO PEOPLE
adapted by Ann Dixon & illustrated by James Watts

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QUACK AND COUNT

by Keith Baker & illustrated by Keith Baker ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1999

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Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-15-292858-8

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
LMNO PEA-QUEL
by Keith Baker ; illustrated by Keith Baker

- BOOK REVIEW
HAP-PEA ALL YEAR
by Keith Baker ; illustrated by Keith Baker

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE GREEN PEAS
by Keith Baker ; illustrated by Keith Baker

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DORY STORY

by Jerry Pallotta ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2000

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Who is next in the ocean food chain? Pallotta has a surprising answer in this picture book glimpse of one curious boy. Danny, fascinated by plankton, takes his dory and rows out into the ocean, where he sees shrimp eating those plankton, fish sand eels eating shrimp, mackerel eating fish sand eels, bluefish chasing mackerel, tuna after bluefish, and killer whales after tuna. When an enormous humpbacked whale arrives on the scene, Danny’s dory tips over and he has to swim for a large rock or become—he worries’someone’s lunch. Surreal acrylic illustrations in vivid blues and red extend the story of a small boy, a small boat, and a vast ocean, in which the laws of the food chain are paramount. That the boy has been bathtub-bound during this entire imaginative foray doesn’t diminish the suspense, and the facts Pallotta presents are solidly researched. A charming fish tale about the one—the boy—that got away. (Picture book. 4-8)