A charming backyard adventure that young bug lovers are sure to enjoy.
A pair of brothers collects bugs for a school project in this nature-focused illustrated children’s book.
Freddy is so excited to gather bugs for his school entomology project that he sleeps in his hat. Now, Freddy; his little brother, Bradley; and their dog, Lucky-boy, head to a large backyard to collect 11 “live insects.” “What’s so special about bugs anyway?” Bradley asks, and, luckily, Freddy has all the answers. Freddy teaches Bradley about the importance of pollination; why ants march in a row; how grasshoppers and crickets differ; and more. The brothers spend all day in the backyard, encountering bees in manufactured hives; walking sticks; praying mantises; butterflies; and other insects. Freddy also explains hard-to-pronounce terms like metamorphous and tells Bradley not to eat a jumping bean—it has a caterpillar inside. The siblings end the night catching a firefly before dinner, and when Bradley accidentally tips over the bug collection boxes during their meal, they get to catch the insects all over again. Teasdale introduces plenty of insect fun in the dense narration. Freddy’s dialogue sometimes feels overly explanatory—more like a teacher’s speech than a big brother’s—but Bradley’s curiosity and reactions to new facts feel genuine. Even insect fans are sure to encounter intriguing information, as the author explores some lesser-known ideas, including determining whether a grasshopper or a cricket jumps higher and farther, an experiment the brothers set up together. Logvanova’s painterly illustrations depict the two boys, both brown-skinned with curly black hair, in a textured environment. The insects all have big, cartoon eyes, which detract from the story’s realism but add an element of humor that the youngest lap readers should savor. Many realistic flowers appear in the foreground of the images, and the watercolor backgrounds are beautifully rendered. Some insects featured in the pictures, such as dragonflies and ladybugs, are never mentioned in the text, giving readers a chance for an entertaining seek-and-find game to identify as many insects as they can.
A charming backyard adventure that young bug lovers are sure to enjoy.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 979-8985831566
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Inksterpublishing2
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree.
A Christmas edition of the beloved alphabet book.
The story starts off nearly identically to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989), written by John Archambault and the late Bill Martin Jr, with the letters A, B, and C deciding to meet in the branches of a tree. This time, they’re attempting to scale a Christmas tree, not a coconut tree, and the letters are strung together like garland. A, B, and C are joined by the other letters, and of course they all “slip, slop, topple, plop!” right down the tree. At the bottom, they discover an assortment of gifts, all in a variety of shapes. As a team, the letters and presents organize themselves to get back up on the Christmas tree and get a star to the top. Holiday iterations of favorite tales often fall flat, but this take succeeds. The gifts are an easy way to reinforce another preschool concept—shapes—and the text uses just enough of the original to be familiar. The rhyming works, sticking to the cadence of the source material. The illustrations pay homage to the late Lois Ehlert’s, featuring the same bold block letters, though they lack some of the whimsy and personality of the original. Otherwise, everything is similarly brightly colored and simply drawn. Those familiar with the classic will be drawn to this one, but newcomers can enjoy it on its own.
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665954761
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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