PLB 0-7868-2276-7 Yorinks (The Miami Giant, 1995, etc.) captures a child in several deeply recognizable moments: the tantrum, the imaginary journey, the heartbreak of the wrong toy; the delight when it turns out to be the right one. Lulu, who has been whining for a dog, is finally given a toy stuffed poodle, and throws a fit. But one night, after five comic books and a mystery chapter, she discovers that Harry the stuffed poodle can talk. While he won’t eat dog biscuits, he loves pumpernickel bagels. Facing an unconvinced Lulu, Harry says he is going back to France where he came from; Lulu dresses and goes with him. They wander down the street until they come across morning in Paris. Harry rescues Lulu from a crazed French driver and she rescues him from the Seine; cut back to Lulu’s house, where her parents look on happily at the bedtime scene of Lulu and her toy. For Yorinks, that’s an ending that is unequivocably upbeat. Matje’s illustrations are happy, clean-lined, retro scenes, of a world where children and their dogs can go out for an all-night stroll. A Velveteen Rabbit for the ’90s? Not exactly, but it has its moments. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7868-0335-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-292858-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
Who is next in the ocean food chain? Pallotta has a surprising answer in this picture book glimpse of one curious boy. Danny, fascinated by plankton, takes his dory and rows out into the ocean, where he sees shrimp eating those plankton, fish sand eels eating shrimp, mackerel eating fish sand eels, bluefish chasing mackerel, tuna after bluefish, and killer whales after tuna. When an enormous humpbacked whale arrives on the scene, Danny’s dory tips over and he has to swim for a large rock or become—he worries’someone’s lunch. Surreal acrylic illustrations in vivid blues and red extend the story of a small boy, a small boat, and a vast ocean, in which the laws of the food chain are paramount. That the boy has been bathtub-bound during this entire imaginative foray doesn’t diminish the suspense, and the facts Pallotta presents are solidly researched. A charming fish tale about the one—the boy—that got away. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-88106-075-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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