A small tale of magic and mystery is hampered by its dependence on its sequel. Lillian lives with her Aunt in the hills, a wild, gentle girl who puts out saucers of milk for stray cats and gives the gnarled old Apple Tree Man a biscuit for breakfast every morning and whose greatest desire is to see the fairies. When a snake bites her, the cats save her by turning her into a kitten; in order to change back, she must make a portentous bargain with the Father of Cats. The plot is slight enough; what makes this story sing is its infusion with a sort of folkloric mysticism that places it firmly in the tradition of the original fairy tale. De Lint’s sonorous, ingenuous language is complemented beautifully by Vess’s full-color line-and-watercolor illustrations, the slightest hint of comics-style influence giving the old-timey setting a faintly contemporary air. But as a conscious “prequel” to the pair’s earlier (and out-of-print) Seven Wild Sisters, the story has an unfinished and ultimately unsatisfying quality. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: June 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-670-03647-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2003
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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BOOK REVIEW
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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