A young fellow going down the road and running into a succession of sillies is a common folklore theme, but this isn't just another variation. In a few words Lobel's grasshopper hero is given not only common sense but an engaging, open attitude as well, and the creatures he encounters are not interchangeable comic numbskulls but representatives of different, familiar foibles. Among them are a group of beetles who form a club to celebrate morning, but won't tolerate a member who also enjoys afternoon and evening; a broom-wielding housefly who started by sweeping a speck on the rug and is determined not to stop "until the whole world is clean clean clean"; and a mosquito who is such a stickler for rules that he insists on Grasshopper crossing the lake in his boat, though his prospective passenger can easily jump across and doesn't fit in the boat. Later three butterflies, creatures of habit, wish to include visits with Grasshopper in their ludicrously rigid daily routine, but he answers: "I will be moving on. I will be doing new things." And when his pace is scorned by two dragonflies so intent on zipping speedily onward that they haven't time to view the scenery: "He was happy to be walking slowly down the road." You can trust Lobel to provide beginning readers with just a little more thought food than meets the eye—while just as gently pleasing the eye with his soft-toned, harmonious illustrations.
Pub Date: Oct. 4, 1978
ISBN: 006444094X
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1978
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The book is available in just about every format--but this is the perfect one.
It's hard to believe that a pop-up wasn't the creators' original intention, so seamlessly do moveable parts dovetail into this modern classic's storyline.
In contrast to the tale's 1998 pop -up version, the figures here move on every page, and with an unusually graceful naturalism to boot. From pulling down Big Nutbrown Hare's ears on the opening spread to make sure he's listening to drowsily turning his head to accept a final good-night kiss in a multi-leveled pull-down tableau at the close, all of Little Nutbrown Hare's hops, stretches and small gestures serve the poetically spare text—as do Big Nutbrown's wider, higher responses to his charge's challenges. As readers turn a flap to read Big Nutbrown's "But I love you this much," his arms extend to demonstrate. The emotional connection between the two hares is clearer than ever in Jeram's peaceful, restrained outdoor scenes, which are slightly larger than those in the trade edition, and the closing scene is made even more intimate by hiding the closing line ("I love you right up to the moon—and back") until an inconspicuous flap is opened up.
The book is available in just about every format--but this is the perfect one. (Pop-up picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5378-1
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
Another Brett winner to add to the shelf.
A classic Russian tale gets Brett’s signature artwork and a twist ending.
When Badger Girl finds a giant turnip in the vegetable patch, she immediately starts thinking of all the tasty things that could be made with a turnip that size. But she can’t pull it out, not even with the assistance of Badger Boy, Mother Badger, or Father Badger, each new character heralded in the recto vignette on the previous page. Passing friends—Hedgie, Mr. Ram, and Vanya, the horse—join in, one by one, as the snowflakes signaling winter’s arrival start to fall, but even all pulling together, they can’t manage it. A rooster who had a narrow escape from a cooking pot happens by. Meanwhile, a mother bear and two cubs, whom observant readers have been watching in the vignettes on the versos, climb into their winter den to hibernate only to find a giant turnip in their bed. Well, their pushing and Rooster’s pulling coincide to pop the turnip out, and it’s turnip pancakes for those aboveground, sleep for the bears, and an honorary home for Rooster. Brett brings the Russian countryside setting to life. Her anthropomorphized animals wear clothing in shades of blues, white, and reds, and the patterns are beautiful. The wooden fences and house are elaborately carved, and Brett’s borders are highly detailed, many times looking like carved wood.
Another Brett winner to add to the shelf. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-3991-7070-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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