Staying with ``distant relative'' Mr. Mudd, Lucy is shown many wonderful things (music-boxes, old books) and even given a real ruby ring, but she's deprived of any pleasure by his constant warnings: everything is too precious to be touched. Rebelliously, Lucy takes the ring—and then loses it. Cowed by Mr. Mudd's anger, she is reluctant to tell him when she also loses her first tooth, but then bursts forth with all her true feelings. Fortunately, Mr. Mudd is human, too: Realizing his error, he slips the ring (which he's found) under her pillow in place of the tooth, then graciously reforms. The message is obvious, but it's told with enough grace to give it some power. Hidy's computer-generated illustrations (full details in an extensive colophon) are a mixed success: simple lines delineate emotions with the surprising sensitivity of recent film animation, and some of the compositions—especially where colored forms are silhouetted against a white ground—are elegantly spare. The sophisticated color sometimes seems garish, or merely stolid; more often, however, the subtle tones and juxtapositions contribute meaning. An interesting effort, adding up to more than just a worthy experiment. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-374-34657-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1992
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
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
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