A breezy, enthralling look at how wild animals are safely transported by air, with big, hilarious cartoon illustrations. As newcomer Jackson tells it, some creatures are easy to please; just crate up ostriches, kangaroos (but pad the top, please), and sloths; give flamingoes and hummingbirds plenty of company; be sure giraffes are facing backwards; and bury heavy- drinking elephants knee-deep in absorbent peat moss. Lions and leopards prefer to travel in darkness, but birds need enough light to see their food. The author supplements her survey with boxes of random facts, sometimes oversimplified (``Elephants are the only animal with four knees. . .'') but selected with a keen appreciation for the intended audience: ``When they are hot, kangaroos lick their armpits to cool down.'' Bardell depicts each animal passenger with human eyes and comically exaggerated expressions—generally anxious or dismayed, although the flamingoes gossip amiably, and the huge, looming gorilla nibbles daintily on tiny jam and honey sandwiches. This is written in generalities, but touches on a topic rarely, if at all, covered elsewhere, making it a delightful choice for either pleasure or purposeful reading. (Nonfiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: May 15, 1995
ISBN: 0-7167-6594-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1995
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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