Willow is “the gentlest bear you ever will meet” in these lovely and dulcet picture books. He lives where Paradise Fields meet the river at the foot of Appleby Downs, and the misty, delicate images are painted in watercolor, pencil, and nostalgia. In the first, Willow decides he must spend the day on the river. After he does all his work on the farm: feeding some of the animals, gathering others, moving the sheep to the meadow, he takes a picnic and meets Finley, another bear. They sing and play and eat, and then Willow goes home to say goodnight to all the animals. In Willow by the Sea, Willow dreams of Salt Cottage, his house in the dunes, and decides to go there for a holiday. He takes all his farm animals with him: horse and sheep, cows, chickens, and geese, and Little Pink Pig. The cows gaze into pools, the horse chases waves, Little Pink Pig and Willow build sandcastles. And Willow sings golden-shore and silver-sand songs before they all settle in for the night. Pig and Willow are obviously anthropomorphic, while the rest of the animals behave pretty much like themselves—during the picnic, for example, Willow and Pig sit at a makeshift table, while the other animals eat their hay, corn, and apples from the ground. Children—and adults reading to them—will be seduced at once if they are in the mood for a bit of sweetness and light. (Picture books. 3-7)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7636-1088-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together.
A clueless duckling tries to make a new friend.
He is confused by this peculiar-looking duck, who has a long tail, doesn’t waddle and likes to be alone. No matter how explicitly the creature denies he is a duck and announces that he is a cat, the duckling refuses to acknowledge the facts. When this creature expresses complete lack of interest in playing puddle stomp, the little ducking goes off and plays on his own. But the cat is not without remorse for rejecting an offered friendship. Of course it all ends happily, with the two new friends enjoying each other’s company. Bramsen employs brief sentences and the simplest of rhymes to tell this slight tale. The two heroes are meticulously drawn with endearing, expressive faces and body language, and their feathers and fur appear textured and touchable. Even the detailed tree bark and grass seem three-dimensional. There are single- and double-page spreads, panels surrounded by white space and circular and oval frames, all in a variety of eye-pleasing juxtapositions. While the initial appeal is solidly visual, young readers will get the gentle message that friendship is not something to take for granted but is to be embraced with open arms—or paws and webbed feet.
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-86990-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
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