The first day of first grade looms, and Little Cliff has sadly lined up his toys to bid goodbye: “ ‘I can’t play with y’all no more. I gotta go to Miss Maxey’s school way down the road, a million miles from here. I know you gonna miss me, ’cause I miss y’all already.’ ” Next morning, great-grandmother Mama Pearl accompanies him to the playground—where he delightedly discovers that, contrary to what the grown-ups around him have been implying, there’s going to be more to school than “work, work, work,” and “quiet, quiet, quiet.” With expert, warmly sympathetic realism, Lewis captures Little Cliff’s hangdog face and body language to perfection; young children having their own qualms about school will readily identify with this reluctant scholar, and so may share his relief at the end as well. It won’t matter that this is set in the rural 50s, a time of lunch buckets and suspenders and brown oxfords. This is some of Lewis’s best work, emotion-laden watercolors capturing an important time and place. There’s something here for older readers to ponder too, in Mama Pearl’s unexplained tears and pride as Little Cliff races off to join his friends in the schoolyard. An affecting sequel to Little Cliff and the Porch People (1999) that was the first to offer some of Taulbert’s characters from his adult memoirs to young readers. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8037-2557-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hank is sure his imaginary dog Fergus is the only friend he needs. When new-boy-next-door Cooper tries to strike up a friendship, Hank accuses him of stepping on Fergus’s tail. All Cooper can see is the ratty old shoestring Hank uses for a leash. Bad feelings grow until the leash is broken during an argument. Both boys feel awful, but make up by exchanging gifts. Nielsen-Fernlund’s first picture book is a mixed bag; the rocky start to Cooper and Hank’s friendship is laid out well, and it’s nice that Hank gets to keep his imaginary friend. However, this simple story is muddled by the addition of a focus, near the end, on Hank’s raspberry birthmark. The birthmark is not mentioned in the beginning, and young readers will be confused when Cooper asks, “What’s that thing on your face?” Hank does explain the birthmark in the end, but his explanation interrupts the flow of the real story. Despite the fun of Laliberté’s bright, full-bleed illustrations, in which Fergus changes his breed to suit Hank’s mood, this Canadian import is not a first purchase. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-55143-245-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
Much ado about very little in this incoherently sketchy easy reader. Finding in succession a copy of The Fairy Handbook, a magic wand, and a packet of fairy dust on her porch, impulsive young Posh tries to do the dishes and find a neighbor’s missing pooch by magic. Not being one to read instructions, however, she fills the kitchen with suds, discovers a mermaid in the bathtub, and creates sundry other mishaps. Luckily, she lives with Pish, a more methodical “best friend,” but also, to judge from the resemblance in Bottner’s rapidly drawn illustrations, either her mother or her big sister, who reins her in and organizes the clean-up. Pish and Posh both sport pointy, doglike ears in the course of this episode—which, along with the fit-and-start pacing may leave young readers wondering what they’re missing. Not much. (Easy reader. 6-7)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-06-051416-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2003
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