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HENRY'S STARS

Name: HENRY'S STARS
Author: David Elliot
ISBN: 978-0-399-17116-1

by David Elliot ; illustrated by David Elliot ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2015

A lovely story with fetching illustrations that needs a more developed ending to completely succeed.

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Henry, the likable pig of Henry’s Map (2013), is back in this picture book.

Stargazing one evening from his front stoop, Henry sees a group of stars that seem to form a picture in the sky—a picture that to Henry’s eyes is the Great Pig. Excited, Henry runs to where his sheep friends are just heading off to bed and shows them the stars. They stare and see…a Great Sheep. Abigail the cow joins them, and she sees a Great Star Cow. And on it goes. Even the chickens see Heavenly Hens. Irritated, Henry goes back to his stoop. Elliot’s gentle writing is quietly humorous, and his illustrations, with their softly rendered nightscapes, capture the magic and mystery of night-sky gazing. The problem, though, is that the ending lacks developmental impact. Henry, after going home and sitting alone, once again sees the Great Pig and rushes off to tell his friends, just as he did at the beginning of the story. And this feels flattish. Nothing, apparently, has changed. The back endpapers show the clever visual reveal of a starry sky with all the animals delineated, but it would have had more impact if it were included in the body of the story.

A lovely story with fetching illustrations that needs a more developed ending to completely succeed. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: May 5, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-399-17116-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
BUMBLEBEE GRUMBLEBEE
by David Elliot ; illustrated by David Elliot

- BOOK REVIEW
OINK
by David Elliot ; illustrated by David Elliot

- BOOK REVIEW
HENRY'S MAP
by David Elliot ; illustrated by David Elliot

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GOOD NIGHT, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 22, 2019

A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends.

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Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both!

Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. “ ‘Beep!’ said Blue. ‘Just hop inside. / All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of [series co-creator] Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.

A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-328-85213-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HMH Books

Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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PIRATES DON'T TAKE BATHS

by John Segal and illustrated by John Segal ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2011

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Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)