A not entirely one-dimensional corvine bliss-out.
There isn’t anything that Oskar, a small bird, doesn’t love. How about you?
In a minimalistic litany to senses and experiences, Teckentrup portrays a stylized black bird, possibly a crow, in a series of very simply rendered activities. Oskar loves the “deep blue ocean” and “soft green grass,” the “smell of spring” and “yellow autumn leaves.” He loves to take his “little fluffy cloud” for a walk, to lose himself in books and in pictures, to walk beneath the sun and the moon, in rain and in silent snow. In full-page illustrations that have the look of prints and appear on recto opposite short lines of text, Oskar poses with each favorite thing. He is made up of simple shapes: crescents for body and wings, a triangle for his tail, a semicircle for his head, and two enormous triangles for his beak, the bottom jaw ever so slightly curved to suggest a smile in many pictures. The closing question turns the narrative over to young audiences, who won’t be slow to chime in. Unlike such similar invitations as Anthony Browne’s How Do You Feel? (2002), there’s not much room here for any response short of full-blown adoration (not to mention less positive feelings)—but the suggestion that Oskar can have an emotionally intense life without having to share it with anyone else (he’s alone in every picture) may be reassuring to solitary sorts.
A not entirely one-dimensional corvine bliss-out. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-3-7913-7270-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Prestel
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Who knew that turning the pages could be the best part of a book?
The concept of this picture book is simple enough: 10 birds topple, slip, and dive their way off the titular twig until there is one left. The text itself echoes familiar singsong-y children’s rhymes like “Five Little Pumpkins.” While it mostly succeeds, there are some awkward spots: “5 on a twig, there used to be more… / SNAP! Don’t say a word, now there are four.” (On each page the number is both spelled out and represented as a numeral). The real scene stealer, however, is the book’s interplay between Cole’s illustrations and the physical pages themselves. In much the same way Eric Carle utilizes the pages in The Very Hungry Caterpillar to show the little critter eating its way through the week, Cole uses pages of increasing width to show how the twig grows shorter as each bird falls and marches off purposefully with the others, all headed toward verso with pieces of twig in their beaks. Stylistically, the book is captivating. The very colorful, egg-shaped birds appear on a single, thin black line on a stark white background. This backdrop stands in powerful contrast to the book’s final two pages, which are set against black negative space, a theme echoed in the book’s feather-print endpapers. The heavy, thick pages make it easy for little hands to participate. The text takes a back seat to the playful and compelling design, which is sure to delight readers.
Who knew that turning the pages could be the best part of a book? (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72821-593-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
This TV rerun in board-book form has nothing new to offer.
Peppa hopes to join her classmates in a Halloween pumpkin competition in this adaptation of a story from the popular British television program Peppa Pig.
With the help of Granny and Grandpa Pig, Peppa turns her giant pumpkin, which is the size of a compact car, into a jack-o’-lantern. The trio is flummoxed when it comes time to transport the pumpkin to the competition, so they call on Miss Rabbit and her helicopter to airlift the pumpkin to the festivities as Peppa and her grandparents ride inside. Peppa arrives just in time for the contest and wins the prize for best flying pumpkin. The scenes look as if they are pulled directly from the television show, right down to the rectangular framing of some of the scenes. While the story is literally nothing new, the text is serviceable, describing the action in two to three sentences per page. The pumpkin-shaped book and orange foil cover will likely attract youngsters, whether they are Peppa fans or not.
This TV rerun in board-book form has nothing new to offer. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: July 30, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-33922-2
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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