Joseph may have Had a Little Overcoat (1999) and another Joseph a “coat of many colors,” but neither sported outerwear like the outsized garment with magic buttons that swirls and flows about this generous youngster’s skinny ankles. On her dancing way she encounters a frozen swan and a giant who’s wilting under the hot sun, a small elf who needs somebody to love, three rabbits menaced by a snake, a ship in a storm—and look, there’s a button to remedy each ill. Nor does she hesitate to give them away, though to her parents’ dismay it leaves her (seemingly) buttonless. To Cullen’s rollicking dactyls Christiana matches splashy, spacious scenes rendered in bright, transparent colors, changing point of view on nearly every spread until the triumphant conclusion, in which the child finds the missing buttons in her pocket, and everyone she’s helped appears at the door to help her sing the adventure out. “It’s fashion, it’s couture, it’s high, and it’s haute, / That megacooliferous, / truly meltificent . . . mostly just marvelous coat!” A showstopping, imagination-stretching debut for Cullen, visually on par with Christiana’s previous extravaganza, Nancy Willard’s The Tale I Told Sasha (1999). (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-316-16334-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
In this irresistibly impish import, a boring day turns decidedly otherwise when little Rosa brings home a tiny, parti-colored fish that has jumped out of the sea into her lap. On a diet of her crusty corn rolls, sweet cassava cake, and tortillas with lobster and cactus slices, the fish immediately outgrows a bowl, a tub, and soon even a trough outside—so at her grandmother’s command, Rosa gathers several friends to help her haul it back through the sleepy town to the shore. A dark-eyed beauty with long, flyaway braids, Rosa poses vivaciously in te Loo’s sandy Mexican settings, and the fish’s benign look, along with such visual jokes as the teetering pile of tortillas Grandmother balances on her head, or the huge, extravagantly decorated cake Rosa serves her friends at the end, further brighten the tone. Fans of Kellogg’s Mysterious Tadpole (1977) and the many folktales with a similar motif will be delighted by this engaging episode. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2004
ISBN: 1-929132-59-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bertie and his best friend—or more accurately stated, toy rabbit, named Small—are inseparable, embarking upon innumerable adventures together. Through the inventiveness of this small child, a simple box stuffed with a few toys becomes a variety of things: a house, a car, a perfect hiding spot. When further inspiration strikes, the box becomes a seagoing vessel for Bertie and Small. While using straightforward language, Cabban eloquently captures a toddler’s innate ability to transform nearly every environment through the imagination, and when the father joins Bertie’s playtime, readers gain a tender glimpse at a loving relationship. A cozy book, ideal for story time. (Picture book. 2-4)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7636-0878-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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