An omnivorous goat stirs up trouble. Tucker loves corn more than anything. But with the corn not ready, what is hungry Tucker to do? He sets his appetite loose on Mrs. Zook’s farm, stealing the straw hat from the head of Sadie the horse and snatching a watermelon, even as a trio of pigs argue over the best time to eat it. The cow’s hay, Mrs. Zook’s sundress and a freshly baked pie also fall victim to Tucker’s quick trotters. Everyone on the farm is “Tuckered out!” Mrs. Zook takes the matter firmly in hand. When she confronts Tucker, he gives her (and the reader) a big surprise, one that brings all the animals back together again in harmony: He’s used his pilfered goods to make a scarecrow, whose watermelon head sports the horse’s hat and who holds up the pie in one “hand.” The broad strokes of Van Patter’s tale of mild mischief are matched by his digital illustrations, in which bright colors within dark outlines cover a spectrum of farm figures. But with farm books abounding, this small adventure, which suffers from some significant logical flaws—why give the crows a pie?—is a marginal purchase. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59078-698-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet bee idyll
A little girl befriends a lost bumblebee in this wordless picture book.
The scene opens on a bustling and ever-so-slightly surreal urban landscape; muted taupes and peaches give it a friendly if sterile look. A little white girl sits in a high-rise apartment reading a book on flowers when a large bee flies in her open window. In an eight-panel sequence, she fetches a fly swatter, causing the bee to back up against a windowsill, four whisper-thin legs held up in surrender, its two wide eyes visually echoing its dismayed O of a mouth. After consulting a book called Bee Culture, she prepares it a solution of sugar water, which the bee sips delicately from a spoon. She lets it go, but it returns, comically bedraggled, on a rainy day, and the friendship is cemented. The bee grows and grows until it’s big enough for her to ride, its human facial features and fuzzy, brown-and-yellow–striped body anything but threatening. (A stinger is conspicuously absent.) Together they fly to the countryside, harvest seeds, and sprinkle them in the city so that the next spring, it’s all abloom. Jay’s oil paintings are soft and delicate, offering delight in the details. Even as the girl bonds with the bee, she also befriends a little brown-skinned boy in the apartment above. A page of bee facts concludes the book, with a focus on pollinator-friendly plants for readers to plant to encourage bees in their own environments.
A sweet bee idyll . (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9010-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
Jarrett's first book shows great understanding of children as she treats the arrival of a new sibling in a positive way. When Catherine awakes, an enormous, genial lion is filling her doorway, with golden light filtering through his immense mane. She accepts this imaginary friend and, with endearing independence and self-assurance, includes him in all her activities: dressing herself, preparing her own cereal, remembering to take back a library book. She takes the lion to class, where he curls up with the children when they go to the mats for naps. At day's end, the girl says good-night to a baby sister, who is otherwise offstage; with that scene, the reason for the lion's appearance that morning begins to make sense. The girl's mother reads her a story and tucks her in—a fine finish to a day in the life of a new older sister. In skilled sketches done in loose line, Jarrett's illustrations have the friendly texture of crayons in scenes that fully convey a warm and secure world, where all routine events are subtly enlivened by the benevolent lion presence. The change in the household—and the child's adaptation to that change—is expertly handled. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Jan. 2, 1997
ISBN: 1-57505-035-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1996
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