Cuddle up with this Bear and his pillow for a just-right bedtime story.
Bear’s mother and brothers are comfortably hibernating for the winter, while he tosses and turns.
Unable to fall asleep, he heads for the bright lights of New York City, where he enjoys the Thanksgiving Day parade, attends an opera, and sees the Statue of Liberty. He encounters other animals at the zoo and in the park, and he falls in love with a Jackson Pollock painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. All that activity finally tires him out, but now he can’t find a place to settle down amid the constant noise and movement of the city that never sleeps. Finally he finds his way home to his forest and family and settles down for a long sleep. Bears and their habits are very popular picture-book subjects, and there have been a great many animals, humans, and imaginary characters who have visited the Big Apple. Nastro brings a fresh perspective with well-paced, simple, descriptive text set in type that’s woven seamlessly around and through Nastanlieva’s bright, detailed illustrations. Dressed in pajamas and toting his pillow, Bear displays curiosity, bewilderment, awe, joy, and, eventually, frustration and exhaustion, all with very slight adjustments to his facial features. Sharp-eyed young readers will notice that a small golden bird unobtrusively accompanies Bear throughout his adventures.
Cuddle up with this Bear and his pillow for a just-right bedtime story. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4268-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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