A clever story about a child, an insect, and a friendship accompanied by uninspired pictures.
A young boy realizes his first impression of a bug is wrong in this lesson about understanding others.
Fred, a brown-skinned boy with curly hair, is startled when a talking bug lands on his rug. After attacking the intruder with a water blaster, a shoe, and a Halloween costume, Fred slows down long enough to listen to the insect’s plea: “Please, hear the things I have to say. / I’m NOT SO UGLY, you will find. / I’ll prove to you I’m beautiful! / Just listen with an open mind.” The creature encourages Fred to examine him through a magnifying glass, getting a close view of his amazing attributes, including the intriguing features on his back, his cool legs, and his tissue-thin wings. As it turns out, the bug only came into Fred’s room to hide from the rain; after the boy agrees to take the insect outside, he invites his new friend, named Buddy, back for another visit. While Winfield’s (Milly’s Magical View, 2017) smoothly rhyming stanzas introduce an appreciation for insect life, the images by debut illustrators Roberts and Heckenkamp are so cartoonish that the title character bears no resemblance to the actual creature, the leaf-footed bug, featured in photographs here (particularly when Buddy’s family, including a pregnant mother, is depicted in humanized form). But Winfield’s astute poetry can be read as a larger metaphor—accepting others who, at first glance, appear scary because they are different.
A clever story about a child, an insect, and a friendship accompanied by uninspired pictures.Pub Date: May 8, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9862709-0-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Orchid House Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An entertaining, if light, addition to the growing shelf of celebrity-authored picture books.
Actor and author Witherspoon makes her picture-book debut.
Betty, a light-skinned, bespectacled child with blond pigtails, was born busy. Constantly in motion, Betty builds big block towers, cartwheels around the house (underfoot, of course), and plays with the family’s “fantabulous” dog, Frank, who is stinky and dirty. That leads to a big, busy, bright idea that, predictably, caroms toward calamity yet drags along enough hilarity to be entertaining. With a little help from best friend Mae (light-skinned with dark hair), the catastrophe turns into a lucrative dog-washing business. Busy Betty is once again ready to rush off to the next big thing. Yan uses vivid, pastel colors for a spread of a group of diverse kids bringing their dogs to be washed, helping out, and having fun, while the grown-ups are muted and relegated to the background. Extreme angles in several of the illustrations effectively convey a sense of perpetual motion and heighten the story’s tension, drawing readers in. An especially effective, glitter-strewn spread portrays Frank looming large and seemingly running off the page while Betty looks on, stricken at the ensuing mess. Though it’s a familiar and easily resolved story, Witherspoon’s rollicking text never holds back, replete with amusing phrases such as “sweet cinnamon biscuits,” “bouncing biscuits,” and “busted biscuits.” As Betty says, “Being busy is a great way to be.” Young readers are sure to agree. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An entertaining, if light, addition to the growing shelf of celebrity-authored picture books. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-46588-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Egg-stra special.
The creators of Pick a Pine Tree (2017) and Pick a Pumpkin (2019) cover each step of a popular Easter tradition.
The first stop for a light-skinned caregiver and child is the farm. Peering into the henhouse, they spot an egg (reminding readers that eggs don’t originate at the grocery store). More eggs are collected throughout the spring countryside and brought home, ready to hard boil. While the eggs are cooling, it’s time to prepare the dye! The lively text highlights natural methods first (“Stew some plants / to make a brew: / beets turn eggs / a rosy hue. / Spinach? Green! / Berries? Blue! / Try some herbs / or spices, too”) but also gives a nod to store-bought kits. After a full day of egg decorating, the youngster wakes up the next morning for a festive neighborhood egg hunt. Happily, treats found inside plastic eggs are not limited to sugar only; they include secret notes, tiny toys, and coins, too. (The child adds their dyed eggs to this bounty.) Sprays of bright greens, a shining sun, and dotted buds on trees as well as pastel bunting and fuzzy bunny ears and flower crowns on little ones bring a light, airy lift to this joyful community gathering. The children involved in the egg hunt are diverse in skin tone. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Egg-stra special. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2847-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
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