A lively look at a community’s unsung heroes.
A mole embarks on more adventures in this latest installment of a children’s book series.
Mole is back again, meeting the “helpers” in his community and learning everything he can about his neighbors. In the first story in this volume, Mole has a goal that many young ones share—to be a firefighter. He plays with a firetruck before bed, and that inspires dreams of helping put out an inferno at a neighbor’s dwelling. Alongside other firefighters, Mole extinguishes a blaze at Panda’s house down the street, and everyone is quite thankful for his efforts. In another tale, Mole, Molie, and their mother are assisted by Gardener Gina in tending their backyard plot. They plant okra, beans, corn, cauliflower, and more while Mole and Molie learn how gardeners help grow food and cultivate the earth. Next, Mole and his friends Beaver and Beavee are having quite the day in play. But when Beaver trips and hurts his leg, the gang must journey to the doctor, where Mole meets his next community helper. The physician tends to Beaver’s injured leg, and the ice cream afterward helps, too. In the fourth and final episode, Mole meets his local plumber, who helps fix a leak in the garden faucet. Sarna’s (Mole Witnesses a Miracle in Nature & Explore the World of Frogs with Mole, 2016, etc.) characters are all important members of the societies in which children live, and Mole’s escapades are designed to not only thrill, but educate as well. A gardener, firefighter, doctor, and plumber perform different jobs, but they’re all important to the well-oiled community. Young readers should delight in learning about each role—even ones they never thought they cared about. Sarna’s stories are certainly engaging (if a touch underdeveloped), but they also have capitalization errors. For instance, the text explains: “The next day Plumber Parker came with his Tool Box and some new steel pipes to help in fixing the leaking faucet in the Mole house garden.” But the illustrations are amusing (although the human cast lacks diversity), and readers should enjoy the colorful images throughout the work.
A lively look at a community’s unsung heroes.Pub Date: March 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4828-7052-7
Page Count: 60
Publisher: PartridgeIndia
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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