An entertaining voyage of imagination with engaging, eccentric companions.
Appealing illustrations and a cheerful, rhythmic text turn a (potentially) slight oddity into a quirky charmer.
Old Robert is a fan of routine. He sails each day, docks each night, serves himself the same supper each evening and enjoys tallying “the regular things in their regular place.” His apparently mundane world, however, includes animals that wear clothes and talk as well as a few that appear to be simply pets. Old Robert makes the acquaintance of three of the former and one of the latter, all cats. Each approaches him, looking for a place to belong. For some reason, the acquisition of the final feline, a small cat with “sea green eyes” spurs Old Robert to eschew his normal habits and set sail at night, below a full and glowing moon. Most listeners, though, won’t worry too much about the whys or even the whats. They’ll be caught up in the incantatory list of Old Robert’s touchstones: “Clean socks / a clock / my ship in the slip at the dock…” and poring over Jutte’s crisp, comical pictures, created in ink, watercolor and acrylic. Dream sequences are particularly pleasing, with smiling socks and marching dishes, and the cats are utterly beguiling whether dancing daintily in a pink dress, strumming a ukulele and wearing a green fedora, juggling spoons or simply snuggling.
An entertaining voyage of imagination with engaging, eccentric companions. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 12, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-399-25430-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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