by Becky Cameron ; illustrated by Becky Cameron ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 9, 2019
Sweet and appealing.
While the rest of the house is sleeping, three imaginative children go on an exciting journey.
The sun is setting outside their bedroom window, but Olive, Barney, and narrator Ella (who sports a red tutu and golden crown) are wide awake and ready for adventure. Ella wants to see a dragon. Fortunately, a hot air balloon floats by, and the trio hops in. They drift to the sea and board a pirate ship, whose one-eyed captain is a bear—not a dragon. Failing to convince him to share his treasure, they hie off to a jungle, where they find “all kinds of animals and birds”—but no dragon. Three sets of yellow eyes stare out at them from the darkness. These belong to a trio of tigers, mama and two cubs. Sensing danger, the children run back to their balloon, escaping the pouncing mama tiger just in time. Suddenly, “the sky fills with inky clouds,” and lightning flashes near the balloon. Ella cries, “Stop!” and the balloon crashes down in a magical land. There, Ella finally meets her dragon, who flies the children back to their bedroom before soaring out of sight. Cameron’s story is routine, but her fresh illustrations, which have the child-friendly look of Tony Ross’, are delightful. Careful readers will have noted the toys and household pets in the children’s bedroom that morph into characters during their adventure.
Sweet and appealing. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4449-3622-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books/Hachette UK
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
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More by Lily Murray
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by Lily Murray ; illustrated by Becky Cameron
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by Pamela Paul ; illustrated by Becky Cameron
by Ed Masessa ; illustrated by Nate Wragg ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2020
Readers will delight in discovering the joyous time pumpkins have when it’s Halloween.
Magical moonbeams awaken a pumpkin patch to raucous Halloween-season revelry.
A moonbeam illuminates and energizes a smiley-faced pumpkin sitting alone on a stair; it promptly takes off to find a friend with whom to have a good time. An entire pumpkin patch, also sparked by the magical moon, instantly comes alive. And what merriment all the grinning gourds get up to! Their playful shenanigans include piling high on top of one another, bouncing on a trampoline, dancing, marching, and drumming, wearing costumes, and competing in games. They even engage in activities usually reserved for other holiday-themed icons—flying on brooms and making magic, for instance. As dawn approaches, the pumpkin leader escorts the cavalcade back home. At sunrise, each one takes up residence on a different house’s front porch and awaits that evening’s moonbeams to work their magic again. Liveliness and good cheer abound in this frisky rhyming tale in which the perennial holiday symbols naturally take center stage. Perky couplets that read and scan very well appear on most pages and are accompanied by energetic, expressive illustrations that highlight vivid oranges, yellows, blues, purples, and greens with touches of other bright shades.
Readers will delight in discovering the joyous time pumpkins have when it’s Halloween. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-56332-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
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by Ed Masessa
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by Ed Masessa ; illustrated by Matt Myers
by Barbara Joosse ; illustrated by Randy Cecil ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 24, 2017
Fans of the series will delight in seeing these favorites again, and Girl and Dragon should win some new ones.
A young girl and a dragon take their sweet friendship on an adventure.
After sharing the beginning and deepening of their friendship in Lovabye Dragon (2012) and Evermore Dragon (2015), Joosse puts this twosome on a journey to the high seas. Girl, forever sleeping in her same bed, dreams of sailing away. Dragon, snug in his lair, dreams of sailing with Girl. “Sometimes when friends share a heart / they dream the same thing, apart.” So they pack a wicker basket, a spyglass, and a banner and wave goodbye. The ocean provides plenty of interest with dolphins, whales, and Bad Hats with ratty beards (depicted as Vikings who differ only in the amount of their facial hair). There’s also a cat. The dreamy, highly textured oil pictures by Cecil in his signature palette of gentle grays, greens, and blues make the transition from land to sea seamlessly. With a tender nod to “The Owl and the Pussycat,” the scenery is full of diversions while the clever rhyming verse full of wordplay drifts the story farther from Home. The hazy images allow young minds to see this tiny princess with dark hair as racially ambiguous. As in many famous stories, one must leave home to find home, which is the same for these two loving friends. “With Dragon as boat / and Girl as crew / there was nothing—nothing—they couldn’t do!”
Fans of the series will delight in seeing these favorites again, and Girl and Dragon should win some new ones. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7313-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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More by Barbara Joosse
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by Barbara Joosse ; illustrated by Kim Barnes
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by Barbara Joosse ; illustrated by Renée Graef
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by Barbara Joosse & Anneke Lisberg ; illustrated by Jared Schorr
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