Young ones will relate to Chiro and cheer as he gains confidence with his newfound skill and will be deeply satisfied flying...
Exquisite design coupled with evocative illustrations enrich this charming tale of a little bat taking his first solo flight and how he learns to “see” with his “good sense,” otherwise known as echolocation.
Although picture books about bats abound, small Chiro will capture readers’ hearts immediately. When the bat-mother tells her child it is time for him to fly alone, the little one shares his fears about the darkness and his inability to see. His mother instructs him on what to do—“sing out into the world, and [listen to] the song the world sings back to you. Sing, and the world will answer. That is how you’ll see.” Up to this point, Long, utilizing acrylics and graphite, features the two creatures up close in toasty browns against a textured dark background. When the mother lets Chiro go, the page turn reveals an emotional change in perspective. No longer is the young bat cuddly and large on the page; now he appears tiny and vulnerable in the immense black spread. Talented storytelling features rich yet concrete language to describe and to build suspense during the bat’s nocturnal trip. Vague but frightening shapes in the dark become defined as trees, bugs, geese and ocean waves in the bluish-green tones used to render a visual of the bat’s echolocation.
Young ones will relate to Chiro and cheer as he gains confidence with his newfound skill and will be deeply satisfied flying along on his sensory-rich journey. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4169-7886-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
A cozy friendship story is always welcome; the animals and balloons here add to the fun.
Penelope Elephant adores her 10 red balloons, which go everywhere she goes.
Penelope’s very protective of her treasured balloons: She sits far away from best pal Piper the porcupine on the school bus, and at recess, she avoids a sharp-toothed crocodilian friend. One day after school, Penelope rushes home when a sudden storm develops. Though she tries to hold tight to her treasures in the face of heavy winds, eventually she lets go. She sits alone in the forest, brokenhearted. Supportive Piper appears with an umbrella and walks Penelope to her front door. Penelope soon discovers that one balloon has drifted home. Grabbing it, she races to her room and wraps it elaborately in a box to preserve it. As she tries mightily to protect it from her parents, who want to help, it breaks. Still, there’s good news in the air—literally: Outside the window, everyone glimpses nine red balloons floating in the air. Flinging the front door open, Penelope discovers her balloons have received help returning home: Each one’s clutched firmly by a good friend. Penelope now realizes what the “greatest treasures” truly are. This sweet friendship story makes clear that people are more important than even the most cherished of objects. The lively, colorful illustrations—those red balloons really pop—keep things moving. Penelope’s an endearing, realistically developed character among the anthropomorphized all-animal cast; children will relate to her plight.
A cozy friendship story is always welcome; the animals and balloons here add to the fun. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781454951827
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
Marta’s adventure is an enjoyable way to introduce animals, observe concepts, and identify comparisons and polarities in...
Opposites, animals, and Spanish vocabulary introduce concepts to early readers.
Arena introduces readers to purple-backpack–wearing Marta, an adventurous explorer. As she journeys through a fanciful backyard “jungle,” light-skinned Latina Marta discovers and observes the opposites between herself and the animals she encounters, from size to speed to stealth. “To a horse, Marta is lenta. Slow, very slow.” The page-turn completes the contrast: “To a turtle, Marta is rápida. Fast, very fast.” The Spanish words are printed in orange and a playful typeface, a clever approach to avoid italics, an old-fashioned norm. After a series of polarities that introduce Spanish descriptive vocabulary, the journey reintroduces the animals in Spanish translation and offers gentle contradictions to the earlier assertions. “Marta is loud like el león,” and next to the phrase, there’s a profile of a lion in midroar and Marta with a megaphone. Pura Belpré honoree Dominguez’s green, brown, and tan illustrations capture the movement in each spread: an elephant’s trunk in midswing, a galloping horse with leaves floating behind, a rabbit hopping away from Marta.
Marta’s adventure is an enjoyable way to introduce animals, observe concepts, and identify comparisons and polarities in English and en Español. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62672-243-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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