A wild mother duck lands in a pond outside a Tokyo office building; seemingly oblivious to the crowds of human observers, she raises her brood, then leads them across an eight-lane highway to a roomier body of water—the great moat in the Emperor's Imperial Gardens. The birds become national media celebrities; reporters camp out as police officers hover, ready to stop traffic when Mother decides to make the move. Later, three ducklings are washed away in a storm, but after an anxious search, two are recovered- -including the smallest, Chibi. Many children will have caught glimpses of this modern Make Way for Ducklingslike family on the news or in a documentary that appears frequently in the US. Brenner (The Earth Is Painted Green, 1994, etc.) and Takaya relay the facts with obvious affection for their subject and make the text just long enough to be divided into two chapters; it includes a smidgen of Japanese. Otani's neatly drawn, evenly lit watercolors capture the tale's simple charm in clean, roomy scenes of smiling people in casual Western dress photographing—but never trying to feed or handle—the dappled, lively ducklings. (notes, glossary) (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Feb. 20, 1996
ISBN: 0-395-69623-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1995
Inspired by the beauty of the world around him, a newborn chick breaks into joyful song, frolicking through the forest. A chance encounter with a fox, who is honest about his intentions (“Hello, Lunch,” he says), has dire consequences: he swallows the chick in one gulp. Soon the fox is gamboling through the forest, singing the little chick’s song. He is gobbled up by a wolf, who in turn is consumed by a bear, and every one of them is afflicted with the singing malady. A tumble down the hill knocks all the creatures loose from the bear’s stomach, and, grateful that they are no longer compelled to sing, they return the warbling chick to his parents. Cecil’s illustrations sparkle with humor as every astonished animal is seized by the urge to sing and dance; the deep colors provide a vivid backdrop for the action. This wondrously silly tale will click with the same audience that appreciates any version of “The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.” (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-5255-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
paper 0-7894-4758-4 Readers will delight in this entry in the Eyewitness Readers series, in which Wallace combines a very brief, controlled vocabulary and striking full-color photographs to gracefully explain the life cycle of the honey bee. Inserts of labeled images are provided to help children connect specialized words—those not usually part of a basic reading vocabulary, e.g., hive, nectar, pollen, cell, and bee grub. The only mild reservation may be that the photographs in the book show bees and the hive greatly enlarged; some children will need to be provided with a frame of reference for such giant insects. This is a welcome resource for beginning readers, whose curiosity about nature will propel them through page after page. (Nonfiction. 4-7)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-4759-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
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