The free-spirited illustrations, the detailed urban setting, and Fergus’ close connections with his friends are sure to make...
The Barnaby family is getting ready to go on vacation, but Fergus keeps forgetting things.
Young Fergus Barnaby, a small fuzzy bear, is trying to close his overstuffed suitcase but realizes several crucial items are missing. The family lives on the first floor of a typical New York brownstone apartment building, so Fergus must climb the stairs to the second floor to retrieve his bucket and shovel from his giraffe friend Fred; to the third floor to get his goggles from his hippo friend Emily Rose; and to the roof to get his kite from his monkey friend Teddy. The friends are each depicted in their distinctly styled living spaces, most interestingly Fred’s jazz studio. As with Barrow’s earlier Have You Seen Elephant? (2016), the illustrations are skillfully rendered in a splashy, textured watercolor style, with lots of interesting details. Clues to the personalities of the characters abound in the drawings taped to the walls, pictures on a fridge, and, sweetly, plants labeled with Fergus’ and Teddy’s names on Teddy’s balcony. Finally packed up, Fergus and Dad set off for the beach in their purple VW Bug only to realize a terrible omission: “We forgot MOM!!”
The free-spirited illustrations, the detailed urban setting, and Fergus’ close connections with his friends are sure to make this a hit with every child looking forward to a trip. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4380-5009-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barron's
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
An imaginatively designed lesson in creativity and loss.
When a creative rabbit disappears after spreading color and music through the woods, other rabbits feel a sense of loss until they discover what he left behind.
Rabbit enjoys “rabbity” things, like hopping, jumping, twirling his whiskers, washing his ears, burrowing and sleeping, but he also enjoys “unrabbity” things, like painting and music. Rabbit fills “the woods with color and music,” and his happiness spreads everywhere. But when Rabbit disappears, the woods turn “quiet and gray,” and the rabbits feel sad—until they find the paints, brushes, chimes, pipes and drums Rabbit left for them. They use Rabbit’s gifts to create their own color and music, remember him and feel happy. The repetitive, spare text works beautifully with expressive watercolor illustrations that rely on pattern and color to stress the connection between creativity and happiness. If Rabbit’s doing “rabbity” things, his black silhouette appears as a subdued shape in a tiny green grass patch on a pure white background. If he’s painting or making music, his black form wields brushes and blows a giant pipe against an energized background that explodes with multicolor splashes and musical notes. After Rabbit disappears, everything’s black, white and gray; when the rabbits begin painting and making music, pages teem with whimsical color and pattern.
An imaginatively designed lesson in creativity and loss. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-84643-492-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Child's Play
Review Posted Online: Sept. 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2012
Mixed-media illustrations feature cartoon owls with a variety of clothing and accessories. Extending across each double-page...
There's a party tonight at the old oak tree, and one, two, three, four, five dancing owls bathe, put on special shoes and hats, collect their instruments and climb up to join the fun.
Mixed-media illustrations feature cartoon owls with a variety of clothing and accessories. Extending across each double-page spread, they show each bird preparing and then joining the group. Appropriate numbers appear as the group enlarges. Drawn on natural brown paper with colored pencils and painted with gouache in trendy colors, some images show the owls’ cozy homes, and some feature a background of an evening sky fading from pink to purple to deep blue. On the last spread, the numbered owls are framed by lights as if on stage. Each of the rap-beat couplets that count off the owls is introduced with a separate explanatory line that stops the flow: "A party's not a party without a happy tune. / 3 cool owls have got the beat. / Now they're ready to hit the street." Adults who try to read the book aloud may find it hard going, although the repetition of the “Hootenanny, hootenanny” chorus between each segment will invite listeners to chant along. This jazzy offering doesn’t quite fit its audience. Even if familiar with folk festivals, children just old enough to begin to associate numbers with objects will find that easier to do without these elaborate extra details.Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2273-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2011
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