In 30 short verses, an educator puts an assortment of livestock through some unusual paces to demonstrate homophones, personification, alliteration and such other “language skills” as idioms and puns, e.g., “I went under the fence this morning. / No one knows where I am. / I love the freedom that I’ve found. / I’m a sheep that’s on the lam.” Fernandes surrounds each poem with crowded, lively scenes of cheerful livestock and rural folk, from a dancing cow in a muumuu (“it makes her calves look small”) to a bevy of ovine recreationers in search of “sheep thrills.” Hoce makes no effort to be systematic, though he does identify a few of his examples in a closing list; readers or listeners may still be inspired by his efforts to try some wordplay of their own. (Poetry. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-59078-312-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2005
From Hendry (Kid Kibble, 1994, etc.) comes a sweetly beguiling tale of two mice. Fretful Little Mouse shares a room with Big Mouse. During the wee hours, Little Mouse listens to the night sounds—the howling of wind, hooting of an owl, tapping of branches—fearfully imagining intruders, ghosts, and others. Each time, the long-suffering Big Mouse climbs out of his comfortable bed to show Little Mouse the mundane source of the alarming sound. He draws the line at letting his timid friend into bed for a variety of reasons: wiggling, cold paws, etc. However, when confronted with Little Mouse’s loneliness, Big Mouse readily allows him to hop into bed. Hendry’s depiction of a young child’s fears ring true while Big Mouse’s patient explanations assuage anxieties, providing a forum through which children can safely explore their nighttime jitters. Chapman’s gaily colored illustrations set imaginations soaring as readers discover the myriad uses a mouse has for household scraps. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-525-46261-9
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Greed has no bounds for this bully goat and his insatiable black bag in Tompert’s tale, which is not so much cumulative as it is avaricious. On market day, Ole Goat is on the prowl; from anyone he encounters he demands their goods, or “I’ll pitch you down this mountain with a butt from my bony, bony head.” One after another, the wares belonging to owl, rabbit, and fox go into the evermore capacious black sack: “There’s always room for more. . . . I’ll never have enough,” howls Ole Goat. By the time the goat challenges a bear who has nothing but his hat to tender, the grasping creature trips over the bloat and winds up in a mud puddle. Tompert’s text offers a crisp backhand to the pox of greed, while Chwast’s artwork is highly demonstrative and engaging. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-89418-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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