Sweet depictions of reassurance and friendship.
The anthropomorphic title character isolates himself to feel safe from the elements—until an unexpected visit from Mole.
Weasel’s friendly face, fluffy, rust-colored fur, and loose polka-dot necktie remove any prejudices some readers may have about his species. Indeed, he is innocently collecting fall leaves against a colorful, bucolic backdrop when “suddenly the weather changed.” The page turn shows, on the verso, two comical vignettes of Weasel trying to protect himself from a “nasty rain” by clamping a large leaf on his head and then falling “FLAT on his bottom” as a gust of wind hits him. Little viewers will giggle as Weasel tells the sky, “That’s ENOUGH of that nonsense!”—and is soon pelted with hail. They will also empathize with Weasel’s growing sense that he’s small and powerless. Weasel builds himself a snug, protective home, where he lives in isolation until, one day, he turns around to find Mole sitting on the blue sofa. The ensuing dialogue is first about Weasel’s insistence that his home is solely for safety and then about Mole’s insistence that there is plenty of fun to be had in the fortress. A particularly comical illustration shows the bespectacled Mole demonstrating his “scary face” to thwart foxes. Mole proceeds to turn Weasel’s concerns on their heads, demonstrating to Weasel—and readers—that “a different way of seeing things” can work wonders. A healthy range of vocabulary differentiates the two creatures’ divergent approaches to life.
Sweet depictions of reassurance and friendship. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 30, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68010-193-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
A funny David-versus-Goliath story with a one-word question serving as the slingshot. (Picture book. 3-5)
Doctor X-Ray, a megalomaniac with an X-ray blaster and an indestructible battle suit, crashes through the ceiling of the local mall.
Innocent patrons scatter to safety. But one curious child gazes directly at the bully and asks: “Why?” At first, Doctor X-Ray answers with all the menace and swagger of a supervillain. The curious child, armed with only a stuffed bear and clad in a bright red dress, is not satisfied with the answers and continues asking: “Why?” As his pale cheeks flush with emotion, Doctor X-Ray peels back the onion of his interior life, unearthing powerful reasons behind his pursuit of tyranny. This all sounds heavy, but the humorously monotonous questions coupled with free-wheeling illustrations by Keane set a quick pace with comical results. At 60 pages, the book has room to follow this thread back to the diabolical bully’s childhood. Most of the answers go beyond a child’s understanding—parental entertainment between the howl of the monosyllabic chorus. It is the digital artwork, which is reminiscent of Quentin Blake’s, that creates a joyful undercurrent of rebellion with bold and loose brush strokes, patches of color, and expressive faces. The illustrations harken to a previous era save for the thoroughly liberated Asian child speaking truth to power.
A funny David-versus-Goliath story with a one-word question serving as the slingshot. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-6863-0
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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Readers are likely to love it to the moon and back.
Little Nutbrown Hare ventures out into the wide world and comes back with a new companion in this sequel to Guess How Much I Love You (1994).
Big Nutbrown Hare is too busy, so after asking permission, Little Nutbrown Hare scampers off over the rolling meadow to play by himself. After discovering that neither his shadow nor his reflection make satisfactory playmates (“You’re only another me!”), Little Nutbrown comes to Cloudy Mountain…and meets “Someone real!” It’s a white bunny who introduces herself as Tipps. But a wonderful round of digging and building and chasing about reaches an unexpected end with a game of hide-and-seek, because both hares hide! After waiting a long time to be found, Little Nutbrown Hare hops on home in disappointment, wondering whether he’ll ever see Tipps again. As it turns out, it doesn’t take long to find out, since she has followed him. “Now, where on earth did she come from?” wonders Big Nutbrown. “Her name is Tipps,” Little Nutbrown proudly replies, “and she’s my friend.” Jeram’s spacious, pale-toned, naturalistic outdoor scenes create a properly idyllic setting for this cozy development in a tender child-caregiver relationship—which hasn’t lost a bit of its appealing intimacy in the more than 25 years since its first appearance. As in the first, Big Nutbrown Hare is ungendered, facilitating pleasingly flexible readings.
Readers are likely to love it to the moon and back. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1747-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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