Suggests a human lesson from a fish fact made familiar by a popular children’s film.
Even someone socially awkward can find a friend.
A habit of stinging keeps lonely Anemone from making friends, but for a clownfish, Anemone is just the right companion. Illustrated by the narrative and summarized on the last page of this tale of anthropomorphized sea creatures are three facts about ocean life: Tides rise and fall; hermit crabs use other creatures’ shells for protection, upgrading as they grow; and clownfish and sea anemones have a symbiotic relationship. (The last fact will be familiar to anyone who’s seen Disney’s Finding Nemo.) Anemone’s social difficulties become evident when three small fish wash into its pool during high tide. They know to stay away from its offers of friendship, but the tide goes out, the pool shrinks, and they can’t help but touch Anemone and be stung. “Why do I always sting everyone?” Anemone wonders. But it turns out that stinging can be helpful. When Clownfish is chased into Anemone’s sheltering tentacles by a threatening octopus, it’s the octopus that gets the sting. McGregor’s illustrations have the appearance of having been done with oil pastels. Anemone is a bright pink. The small fish are striped with shades of turquoise and Day-Glo green. The octopus looms large and gray. Attentive readers will be intrigued by the side story of a hermit crab looking for a new home that is enacted along the sandy edges of the main narrative.
Suggests a human lesson from a fish fact made familiar by a popular children’s film. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-950354-51-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scribble
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A tasty holiday confection.
Actor Witherspoon’s latest sees her exuberant young hero returning to celebrate the holidays.
Realizing that it’s nearly Christmas, Busy Betty launches into a brainstorming whirlwind; Betty wants to buy the perfect gifts but lacks the necessary funds. Last summer, Betty and best friend Mae had good luck running a lemonade stand, so the kids start a Christmas cookie stand. But chilly temperatures keep prospective customers away even after Betty and Mae sing loud, creative Christmas carols to get people’s attention and build snowpeople to create the illusion of customers. When Betty’s dog, Frank, accidentally crashes the stand and ruins the beautiful treats, a distraught Betty is sure that “Christmas is ruined!” But upon discovering one intact cookie, Betty has a great idea and dashes to the kitchen to whip up some perfect presents. On Christmas morning, Betty’s homemade gifts are scrumptious and tailor-made for their recipients—a holiday success! Though the story is slightly predictable, Betty’s inimitable voice (“Sweet cinnamon biscuits, it’s Christmas!”) sets it apart; Witherspoon ably captures the emotional extremes that young children often grapple with. Yan’s illustrations effectively portray the steps of Betty’s journey, using a vivid palette of greens and pinks and a dynamic use of perspective to keep wiggly young readers entranced. An appended recipe for cookie bars encourages readers to follow Betty’s worthy example. Busy Betty presents white; Mae is tan-skinned with dark hair.
A tasty holiday confection. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780593525159
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Like its subject: full of bustling life yet peaceful.
Life buzzes in a community garden.
Surrounded by apartment buildings, this city garden gets plenty of human attention, but the book’s stars are the plants and insects. The opening spread shows a black child in a striped shirt sitting in a top-story window; the nearby trees and garden below reveal the beginnings of greenery that signal springtime. From that high-up view, the garden looks quiet—but it’s not. “Sleepy slugs / and garden snails / leave behind their silver trails. / Frantic teams of busy ants / scramble up the stems of plants”; and “In the earth / a single seed / sits beside a millipede. / Worms and termites / dig and toil / moving through the garden soil.” Sicuro zooms in too, showing a robin taller than a half-page; later, close-ups foreground flowers, leaves, and bugs while people (children and adults, a multiracial group) are crucial but secondary, sometimes visible only as feet. Watercolor illustrations with ink and charcoal highlights create a soft, warm, horticulturally damp environment. Scale and perspective are more stylized than literal. McCanna’s superb scansion never misses, incorporating lists of insects and plants (“Lacewings, gnats, / mosquitos, spiders, / dragonflies, and water striders / live among the cattail reeds, / lily pads, and waterweeds”) with description (“Sunlight warms the morning air. / Dewdrops shimmer / here and there”). Readers see more than gardeners do, such as rabbits stealing carrots and lettuce from garden boxes.
Like its subject: full of bustling life yet peaceful. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1797-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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