No one can beat McPhail (I Love You Because You’re You, 2001, etc.) at illustrations of bears, and Rick the bear joins a long list of the artist’s ursine charmers who can’t fail to win over young readers. In this emergent-level easy reader, Rick meets a rabbit named Jack, but unfortunately, Rick and Jack are on opposite sides of the river. The two characters use a hollow log and Rick’s jump-rope to explore the concept of cooperation, helping each other in simple but creative ways until they can join together on the same bank of the river to jump rope side by side. The text uses a question-and-answer format and just one simple sentence per page to tell the short but satisfying story, which has a real plot and real obstacles for the characters to overcome, despite the length. McPhail’s delicately shaded watercolor illustrations show rotund Rick in an orange vest and jaunty Jack in a polka-dot neckerchief, with some hilarious expressions on the animals’ faces as they struggle with the heavy log. Children who are just learning to sound out basic vocabulary will enjoy this amusing tale, one of several that McPhail has created for the Green Light easy reader series. (Easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-15-216552-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Green Light/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2002
Newcomer Waite offers a tale of mild suspense. A mouse scampers and scurries through an abandoned house, where a mournful wind is blowing, heightening the drama. Unbeknownst to the mouse, a cat is following, and moving in. Every stanza—“And up the giant steps,/with scrabbling and scratching,/a little mouse was struggling./Then slinking up behind,/a shadow came lunging”—is followed by a refrain: “MOUSE, LOOK OUT!/THERE’S A CAT ABOUT” that ought to inspire hearty choruses at story hour. In the end, a dog that materializes to thwart the cat. Waite’s story is sweet but negligible; what will keep readers flipping the pages is Burgin’s illustrated tour of the deserted house—the artwork naturalistic and detailed—and the modestly menacing cat lurking in the shadows, all stealth and determination. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-525-42031-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1998
Loosely arranged around a birthday celebration, this meandering tale never finds its focus. Lizzie is stranded on a deserted island with nothing but her “ever-busy scientist” parents and a giant computer. In her frustration and loneliness, she and her pal Starfish decide to run away. Se§or Mundo (a personified cartoon of Earth) offers them a place to go—the entire world. Other planets vie for her attention, slinging insults at each other until Lizzie chooses Mars for its red color. Hurled through space, she finds Mars to be inhospitable and has to be rescued by Se§or Mundo. Following side trips under the sea and into the jungle, Lizzie returns for a no-place-like-home birthday bash. Whiny Lizzie is impossible to like; Mariscal’s cartoons have the energetic lines of comic-book art, and provide a fun grand finale. The book never achieves magic, but offers some satisfying glimpses of real adventure. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-8109-4176-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1998
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