Wide awake in the wee hours of the morning, Worry Bear sits perched on his shelf in the dark toy store—take a minute to find him among the multitudes. At first Laundry Bears are concerned that he is worried because his sweater could use a wash; Polar Bears attempt to give him comfort by offering some warmth; and Honey Bear suggests he might be hungry. But soon they all figure out that maybe he is just lonely. Together the bears go off to search for his family, all except one. Blabber Bear stays behind giving voice to Worry Bear’s concerns, nattering on in comfort. Worry Bear sits listening until suddenly the toy store opens for business and their conversation must end. Snuggled up to his new friend, he falls asleep at last. Artful illustrations rendered in a wash of watercolors feature a wonderful collection of stuffed bears of every size. Unfortunately, the story is so subtle it will take an adult to explain what has happened. Still, bear lovers will want to snuggle up to Worry Bear, too. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2002
ISBN: 1-886910-83-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fish sporting bright colors and broadly brushed patterns flash across solid blue color fields, as Little Fish introduces finny friends, from “spotty fish, stripy fish, happy fish, gripy fish,” to “eye fish, shy fish, fly fish, sky fish.” Cousins slips in several opportunities for counting, along with all the color and pattern recognition practice, and has Little Fish close on an intimate note, with “the one I love the best,” his mom, coming in for a smooch. Preschoolers will happily dive into this oversized cousin to Lois Ehlert’s Fish Eyes (1990), and Cousins’ own Maisy’s Rainbow Dream (2003). (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: June 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7636-2741-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Playfully shows that love comes in all shapes and sizes.
All kinds of animals interact fancifully in loving embraces.
An eclectic collection of animals is depicted in warm, softly textured watercolor paintings on double-page spreads. Each of the diverse animals is shown affectionately cuddling another in novel ways, sometimes two of the same species, sometimes completely different. An elephant has a tiny, big-eared fox nestled in its ear: “I love you with all of my ears”; an aardvark, a tapir and a proboscis monkey twine their snouts together as ants crawl around; multieyed spiders ogle each other; a gray fox wraps its tail around a lion’s mane; whales and dolphins breach and dive; and a pair of chameleons is locked in a tight embrace: “I love you with all of my skin.” The title animal, the octopus, loves its child “with all of my hearts.” These and other whimsical conjunctions of a variety of animals will afford a lively bedtime conversation, aided by a useful glossary at the end with fun facts about all the animals depicted. Did you know that Arctic foxes have 20,000 hairs per square centimeter on their bodies, and there is a millipede with 750 legs—“more than any other creature on the planet!” The nerdy older sib will enjoy this as much as the little one.
Playfully shows that love comes in all shapes and sizes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-56846-359-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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