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LITTLE BIG EARS

Name: LITTLE BIG EARS
Author: Cynthia Moss
ISBN: 0-689-80031-2

by Cynthia Moss & photographed by Martyn Colbeck ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1996

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Subtitled ``The Story of Ely,'' this book takes a look at the first year of life for a physically challenged African elephant—also the subject of PBS documentaries—born in Amboseli National Park in Kenya. Moss documents Ely's first year of life: When he is born, he cannot stand up because the first joints of his front legs were bent back and ``completely stiff.'' He cannot stand, nurse, or follow the herd. Only by hobbling on his knees does Ely survive the first day. For the next several days he stretches his partially unbent front legs until finally he is able to stand on the soles of his feet, and eventually learns to walk, too. But his trials are far from over; Ely has trouble feeding himself because his trunk is limp—at one point he accidentally steps on it. Once that's mastered, there is a drought, and the calves in the elephant family learn to eat the dung of the adults. Only when the rains come, at the end of Ely's first year, does his survival seem assured. The wordy text will not distract readers from the drama of Ely's story, nor will the occasionally cluttered layout: With no clear sense of design, close-ups are mingled with distance shots, and full-bleed spreads with framed insets. As is true of Ely, readers will have to work for their reward: a triumphant story of an elephant's survival against the odds. (Picture book/nonfiction. 8-10)

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-689-80031-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1996

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
ELEPHANT WOMAN
by Laurence Pringle & photographed by Cynthia Moss

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THE SCRAMBLED STATES OF AMERICA

by Laurie Keller & illustrated by Laurie Keller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1998

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Imagine the states, Kansas, California, Ohio, and all the rest, as people with toothy grins, ping-pong balls for eyes, pipe cleaner limbs, and full-blown personalities. Imagine, then, that they get together at a party and decide to switch places on the map. In this amusing spoof, Kansas wakes up one morning saying, “I’m not feeling happy at all!” and starts the whole thing. Florida goes to Minnesota, California goes to Wisconsin, Nevada and Mississippi fall in love. Then the trouble starts: Alaska, who had missed company, feels claustrophobic among other states; Kansas finds his place in the middle of the ocean to be a bit too quiet; Minnesota, in Florida’s spot, forgets to pack suntan lotion; and so on. Soon the states are rushing back to their original spots with sighs of relief. Keller, in her first book pushes a silly idea, to great lengths, and will elicit laughs from all those who thought geography was boring. The states are colorful, boastful, belligerent, and charming, in collage illustrations that are full of spontaneous asides and intriguing labels. The states appear in a final gallery, with a few statistics to square off the whole funny enterprise. (Picture book. 8-10)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-8050-5802-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1998

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
BEARS ARE BEST!
by Joan Holub ; illustrated by Laurie Keller

- BOOK REVIEW
WAKE ME UP IN 20 COCONUTS!
by Laurie Keller ; illustrated by Laurie Keller

- BOOK REVIEW
I AM THE SHARK
by Joan Holub ; illustrated by Laurie Keller

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THE SINGING ROCK & OTHER BRAND-NEW FAIRY TALES

by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer ; illustrated by Simini Blocker ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2019

Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock”...

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The theme of persistence (for better or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters.

Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists. In the nearly wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate goods and riches. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat, pig, duck, and rock in succession—then is horrified to catch herself humming a tune. Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. The narratives, dialogue, and sound effects leave plenty of elbow room in Blocker’s big, brightly colored panels for the expressive animal and human(ish) figures—most of the latter being light skinned except for the golden genie, the blue ogre, and several people of color in the “Sorcerer’s New Pet.”

Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock” music. (Graphic short stories. 8-10)