LITTLE LEK LONGTAIL LEARNS TO SLEEP

Name: LITTLE LEK LONGTAIL LEARNS TO SLEEP
Author: Bette Killion
ISBN: 978-1-937786-63-2

by Bette Killion ; illustrated by Beatriz Vidal ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2016

While Killion’s efforts to highlight a little-known creature and teach a moral lesson are commendable, the preachy tone may...

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Combining elements of the traditional folk tale and an Aesop’s fable, Killion offers a moral tale about how the now-threatened argus pheasant learned to sleep through the night.

In a jungle in Thailand, an argus pheasant is born with an unusually long and brightly colored tail and is named Little Lek Longtail by his “proud mother.” As he grows, his tail also grows: “longer, brighter, and more beautiful.” Despite his beauty, Lek is kind and thoughtful, a friend to all the other birds in the forest. However, he is afraid of nighttime predators—so afraid he cannot fall asleep. Even his mother cannot comfort him. One day, Lek sees a man and his son outsmart a bask of crocodiles to safely cross a river. In amazement he concludes, “There is always a way if one just thinks of it.” Lek begins to observe other creatures using their attributes and talents to help themselves and realizes he can use his long, extravagant tale as an alarm of sorts. In contrast to Killion’s dry and contrived text, Vidal’s vivid and vibrant art shines. She deliberately omits white space, packing a profusion of color, details, and textures across the pages to re-create the dense, diverse jungles of Southeast Asia. The appendix provides interesting argus pheasant facts.

While Killion’s efforts to highlight a little-known creature and teach a moral lesson are commendable, the preachy tone may turn off kids and adults alike. (Picture book. 4-9)

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-937786-63-2

Page Count: 28

Publisher: Wisdom Tales

Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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PRINCESS ROSIE'S RAINBOWS
by Bette Killion ; illustrated by Kim Jacobs

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JUST THINK!
by Bette Killion & illustrated by LInda Bronson

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BIG FOOT AND LITTLE FOOT

From the Big Foot & Little Foot series , Vol. 1

by Ellen Potter ; illustrated by Felicita Sala ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 2018

A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.

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Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.

Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.

A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)

Pub Date: April 10, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Amulet/Abrams

Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
CENTRAL PARK GHOST
by Ellen Potter ; illustrated by Sara Cristofori

- BOOK REVIEW
SHARK IN THE PARK
by Ellen Potter ; illustrated by Sara Cristofori

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GOLDEN IMAGINARIUM
by Ellen Potter

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SWEETY

by Andrea Zuill ; illustrated by Andrea Zuill ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 26, 2019

This kind but snarky, winningly honest story about being a square peg is sure to appeal to misfits and queen bees alike.

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A bespectacled naked mole rat stays true to her awkward self.

By human standards, Zuill’s anthropomorphized naked mole rats are all pretty weird-looking: unsettlingly humanlike; pinkish-white but with beady little eyes, pronounced snoots, and vacant smiles. It seems that there are hierarchies even among naked mole rats, however, and Sweety is somewhere toward the bottom. With Coke-bottle glasses and headgear over her buck teeth, Sweety “could be intense”; she loves mycology and interpretive dance, and she has a hard time making friends with the more popular naked mole rats. Refreshingly, this story doesn’t follow a “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer” plot, in which deviance is only acceptable if it’s useful to others, nor is anyone particularly unkind to the strange mole-girl. Sweety’s aunt Ruth informs her that “being different was one of the best things about her life, and that if you stayed true to yourself, you’d find your people.” Sweety thinks a little about how to be more popular and considers different attention-getting tricks to find her people, but at the end she decides to “continue to do her favorite things, and be herself.” Hilarious, slightly (and appropriately) off-putting pen-and-ink sketches (with an especially delightful spot of some goth adolescent mole rats) perfectly illustrate Sweety’s uniqueness.

This kind but snarky, winningly honest story about being a square peg is sure to appeal to misfits and queen bees alike. (Picture book. 4-8)