bookshelf

THE WOLF AND THE FLY

Name: THE WOLF AND THE FLY
Author: Antje Damm
ISBN: 978-1-776572-80-9

by Antje Damm ; illustrated by Antje Damm ; translated by Catherine Chidgey ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2020

Hard to swallow.

bookshelf

Kids will enjoy this test of their powers of observation in this German import via New Zealand, but caregivers may cringe at the devil-may-care approach to choking hazards.

Author/illustrator Damm’s The Visitor earned her a Best Illustrated Book nod from the New York Times in 2018. This book, unfortunately, though playful in intent, is muddled. The artwork is wonderful—the protagonist, a hungry little wolf, has an abundance of personality, and he stands out against the bright, monochromatic backgrounds. Each facing page features three shelves of his “toys,” as they’re described on the back of the book. They include a duck, an apple, a fish, a cactus, a car, a fly, a bird, and a cat. The wolf, “feeling a bit peckish today,” eats one unspecified item at a time. With each turn of the page, young readers are challenged to identify which item is missing, and they will likely squeal with delight as they do. Caregivers who’ve had to yell, “Don’t put that in your mouth!” or wrestle a choking hazard from the jaws of a toddler may be less amused. If this sparks a “Can you really eat that?” conversation, perhaps that’s all to the good. Kids will also enjoy a bit of potty humor—all that eating occasions a quick trip to the bathroom—and a climactic puke scene, as the titular housefly proves one morsel too many

Hard to swallow. (Board book. 2-4)

Pub Date: May 5, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-776572-80-9

Page Count: 22

Publisher: Gecko Press

Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
THE VISITOR
by Antje Damm ; illustrated by Antje Damm ; translated by Sally-Ann Spencer

- BOOK REVIEW
WAITING FOR GOLIATH
by Antje Damm ; illustrated by Antje Damm

bookshelf

A KISSING HAND FOR CHESTER RACCOON

From the Kissing Hand series

by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2014

Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...

bookshelf

A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.

As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.

Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)

Pub Date: April 1, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4

Page Count: 14

Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing

Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
CHESTER RACCOON AND THE ALMOST PERFECT SLEEPOVER
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson

- BOOK REVIEW
KAI TO THE RESCUE!
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Mike Yamada

- BOOK REVIEW
A COLOR GAME FOR CHESTER RACCOON
by Audrey Penn & illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson

bookshelf

FIVE BLACK CATS

by Patricia Hegarty ; illustrated by Julia Woolf ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2013

For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery.

bookshelf

A troop of cats traverse a spooky landscape as they make their way to a party hosted by ghosts.

Each double-page spread shows the felines’ encounters with the likes of an owl, jack-o’-lanterns or a bat. One or two of these creepy meetings may be too abstract for the youngest readers, as the cats hear eerie noises with no discernible source on the page. The text, which consists of one rhyming couplet per scene, mostly scans despite a couple of wobbles: “Five black cats get a bit of a scare / As the flip-flapping wings of a bat fill the air.” The sleek, slightly retro art, likely created using a computer, depicts the cats cavorting at night through a shadowy cityscape, the countryside and a haunted house; they may scare some toddlers and delight others. A brighter color palette would have given the project a friendlier, more universal appeal. Luckily, the well-lit, final party scene provides a playful conclusion.

For toddlers unafraid of typical Halloween imagery. (Board book. 2-4)