This story makes a wonderful defense of chaos without being the least bit chaotic.
Any character in this picture book could be the main character in a different book.
Robin often speaks in rhyme: “Leave no trace, go tiptoe pace.” The mice who adopted her when her egg fell out of a nest speak mostly in short sentences, mostly about food, with exclamation points at the end: “Breadcrumbs!” “Pie crumbs!” “Cookie crumbs!” The book as a whole is technically a holiday story, but it’s the least Christmassy of Christmas books. The tree is mostly an excuse for Magpie to collect shiny objects, like the “Chrim-Cross Star” on top. All the different writing styles could make the book feel disjointed, but instead it becomes a statement of identity: “ ‘Hey, over here, look at me!’ [Robin chirps], flapping and singing as loudly as a BIRD.” Smith has made Robin a different color than every other character in the book, and it gives her an excuse to try out a rich and layered tint of red. If Rembrandt and Edward Sorel worked together on a picture book, it would look like this. (The book is based on a musical special from Aardman Animations, which, appropriately enough, is animated in a slightly different style, à la Wallace & Gromit.) By the end, Magpie gets a star, and the mice get three different kinds of crumbs.
This story makes a wonderful defense of chaos without being the least bit chaotic. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-63655-009-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Red Comet Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
A sweet Runaway Bunny book for the pirate set.
While reading a book about pirates, Danny considers sailing away with them. But what if he wants to come home?
As he reads with his mom, little Danny wonders aloud what it would be like to be a pirate. From the comfort of his couch, his questions persist. “What if I don’t like it on the pirate ship? And I want to come back home?” With steadfast love, his mother answers every “What if…?” with confident answers that reassure the young boy. Danny considers many logical barriers to his rescue, including the dangers of the ocean and the possibility that the friendly pirates may want to keep him. His mother’s answers, however, involve the magical element of a bottle filled with "magic spray." She metaphorically shrinks the problems with a few pumps of a handle. These "Alice in Wonderland" solutions seem unjustified given Danny’s reasonable questions. Luckily, the colorful full-spread illustrations simplify the nonsense and provide a mood of happy security throughout the story. Fortenberry’s playful illustrations freely borrow from cartoon conventions; the adorable Danny expresses no doubts about his security through two little dots for eyes.
A sweet Runaway Bunny book for the pirate set. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2321-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2011
A useful introduction to citizen science.
On a late spring night under a full moon, Leena, her mother, and her dog count horseshoe crabs on an island beach.
Simply written in short paragraphs, this slim text is long on information if short on excitement. Horseshoe crabs (not true crabs but related to spiders) swarm up beaches along the Atlantic coast to lay eggs in the sand in spring. Millions of migrating shorebirds, including endangered red knots, time their visits to these beaches to feast on the eggs. Humans use the blood of horseshoe crabs to test medicine. The state of the species is important, and citizen scientists like Leena and her mother are deployed to estimate the crab population by counting individuals in a designated area. The authors recount Leena’s experience: a short boat trip, recording time and temperature, looking carefully at an individual crab, getting her dog to wait patiently, and counting while her mother tallies. Jones’ digital paintings resemble animated films; she makes particular use of the spotlight effects of the moonlight. Black-haired Leena and her mother might be of South Asian heritage like the scientist co-author. Four pages of backmatter add helpful information. This story leaves readers with less of a sense of the wonder of this remarkable spring event than Lisa Kahn Schnell and Alan Marks’ High Tide for Horseshoe Crabs (2015) but is more personal. Bat Count, by Anna Forrester and illustrated by Susan Detweiler, publishes simultaneously and features a black family engaging in similar citizen science on their farm.
A useful introduction to citizen science. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62855-9309
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Arbordale Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
