It’s an obvious overture to parental transitioning tactics, but it’s an imaginative adventure just the same.
Zoe and Addie have been given a five-minute warning from their mother—will their game of chase end on time?
Murguia has a way of tapping into young children’s foibles. In Zoe Gets Ready (2012), Zoe gains the responsibility for choosing her own outfit. In Zoe’s Room (No Sisters Allowed) (2013), Zoe learns to share. In this latest Zoe adventure, Zoe and Addie’s mother tells the kids they have five minutes before they must leave the playground. Zoe erupts into outraged shouts and defiant flailings until her mother declares, “Four minutes!” Zoe had better make the rest of the time count. Addie imaginatively transforms into the wild Addiebeast and Zoe, the explorer, must capture her. They race across roaring rivers (the play pond), swing on vines (the monkey bars) and crawl through thick jungle underbrush (a tunnel). Addie’s orange polka-dot dress turns into a spotted tail or paw flashing off-page, hastening the chase. But all the while, mother’s countdown continues, in ever-more-emphatic speech bubbles. Will the Addiebeast be caught? Zoe is full of spitfire and dash, plus there is a veritable explosion of sparkles on the cover. How are young readers to resist?
It’s an obvious overture to parental transitioning tactics, but it’s an imaginative adventure just the same. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-55869-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2014
Watching unlikely friends finally be as “happy as two someones can be” feels like being enveloped in your very own hug.
What to do when you’re a prickly animal hankering for a hug? Why, find another misfit animal also searching for an embrace!
Sweet but “tricky to hug” little Hedgehog is down in the dumps. Wandering the forest, Hedgehog begs different animals for hugs, but each rejects them. Readers will giggle at their panicked excuses—an evasive squirrel must suddenly count its three measly acorns; a magpie begins a drawn-out song—but will also be indignant on poor hedgehog’s behalf. Hedgehog has the appealingly pink-cheeked softness typical of Dunbar’s art, and the gentle watercolors are nonthreatening, though she also captures the animals’ genuine concern about being poked. A wise owl counsels the dejected hedgehog that while the prickles may frighten some, “there’s someone for everyone.” That’s when Hedgehog spots a similarly lonely tortoise, rejected due to its “very hard” shell but perfectly matched for a spiky new friend. They race toward each other until the glorious meeting, marked with swoony peach swirls and overjoyed grins. At this point, readers flip the book to hear the same gloomy tale from the tortoise’s perspective until it again culminates in that joyous hug, a book turn that’s made a pleasure with thick creamy paper and solid binding.
Watching unlikely friends finally be as “happy as two someones can be” feels like being enveloped in your very own hug. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-571-34875-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
Avast, me mateys! This be good clean fun on the salty seas.
Using one’s imagination is a lot easier when everybody is on board.
“What are you playing?” an amused parent asks a small child. The little one cries out resolutely, “I’M NOT PLAYING!” After all, a storm is on its way, and it’s time to fit out the ship. The adult’s gentle protestations (“Um, I kind of need to vacuum the rug”) are no match for the undeniable fact that the rug is, in fact, the ocean. Soon enough the two are raising the mainsail, swabbing the poop deck, hoisting the burgee, and more (a helpful glossary of sailing terms is included). In spite of the occasional cell phone interruption (the child, facedown on the rug, laments, “We are in the doldrums” when the adult takes a call), all is put right when the adult gets back into the spirit of things, fielding an attack against a giant squid (aka the vacuum cleaner). Rescues, distress signals, hungry sharks—it all adds up to a wonderful time. That rug is never getting vacuumed. Blackall slips with ease between fantasy and reality, and young readers will have oodles of fun watching as socks morph into seagulls and paper towel tubes become telescopes. It’s also nice to see a book where the notion of turning off your cell phone is aimed more directly at the parents than the kids. All characters are light-skinned.
Avast, me mateys! This be good clean fun on the salty seas. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9780593429396
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Anne Schwartz/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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