by Debi Gliori ; illustrated by Debi Gliori ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2014
One would be hard-pressed to find a warmer or more engaging adoption/blended-family tale than this one.
A picture book about families originally published in Britain as Dragon Loves Penguin.
It is bedtime for penguin Bib, but he wants a story from his mommy and daddy, a particular story about dragons, and alert children will note that he wants the very story that is in their or their caregivers’ laps. In the book, dragons come to live in the ice and snow, on top of a volcano. When spring comes, there is a dragon without an egg, and an egg without a mommy, so that dragon gives fluffy, undraconian Little One, who hatches from that egg, “love and time.” One day, the big dragons fly away on errands, and the small dragons bully Little One. Hurt and alone, she feels the volcano wake up and warns them all. She slides down the mountain on her soft tummy away from the fire and finds, at its bottom, an egg—which she nurtures, just as her dragon mother did with her. Bib wants the story again, so Grandma—the dragon—begins it again. The language is rich and evocative but beautifully simple, with lovely cadences for reading aloud. The spiky orange dragons have long snouts and lots of points and angles, in contrast to small, fluffy Little One and the penguin-smooth grown-up birds.
One would be hard-pressed to find a warmer or more engaging adoption/blended-family tale than this one. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8027-3759-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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by Debi Gliori ; illustrated by Alison Brown
BOOK REVIEW
by Debi Gliori ; illustrated by Alison Brown
BOOK REVIEW
by Debi Gliori ; illustrated by Debi Gliori
by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Chloe Dominique ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
Pleasant enough but not particularly original.
Uplifting messages of positivity from the Today show anchor.
Hope springs eternal, so the saying goes. Kotb agrees, here delivering to children the cheery news that hope lives inside all of them and that whatever they might wish for can be theirs. All they need is a sunny outlook, and the possibilities for happy outcomes are virtually endless. Children’s dreams can be in-the-moment ones—like purple ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry—or more far-ranging ones, such as growing tall enough to reach that high shelf easily or for hair that’s long enough to braid. It doesn’t matter, the author reassures young readers. Your aspirations will be realized, so don’t give up on them—just keep believing in them and, most of all, in yourself. Throughout, Kotb calls hope a rainbow, a feeling, a gift, and a wish. Hope is “new friends you’ll find— / friends who are loving and funny and kind.” Hope is “practicing your heart out, letter by letter.” The book’s overarching theme is upbeat, but its bouncy rhyming text is clumsy. The child-appealing illustrations are colorful and lively, though they have a generic look. The cast of wide-eyed characters is racially diverse; some have visible disabilities.
Pleasant enough but not particularly original. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593624128
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
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by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Suzie Mason
by Phil Rosenthal & Lily Rosenthal ; illustrated by Luke Flowers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024
Amusing but misleading on the nutritional and behavioral fronts.
With one taste of despised mustard, a child pivots from rejecting new foods to seeking them.
Dad takes Lil to a food truck festival. Lil, who narrates the story, is nervous; this child’s list of acceptable foods is short (pizza, rice, grilled cheese, french fries, and vanilla ice cream). Dad loves varied tastes and repeatedly reminds Lil of his rule: “Just try it!” With a “YECCCH!” or an “EWWWWWW!” Lil refuses a bagel loaded with toppings, linguini with clams, Peking duck, pizza with spinach and garlic, and a pretzel covered with Lil’s most hated of foods: mustard. Frustrated, Lil accidentally knocks the pretzel onto Dad’s shirt. Lil apologizes, takes a lick of mustard…and instantly learns to appreciate every rejected offering. Lil then uses the title mantra to pressure Dad onto a nausea-inducing roller-coaster ride. Bright, cartoon-style illustrations emphasize the pair's upbeat mood. Food neophobia, or an aversion to eating anything novel, has complex psychosocial roots. But in this blithe little fable, the child’s resistance is completely overcome with a single accidental exposure, and the formerly picky eater immediately becomes a novelty seeker. The turnaround here is implausible; if this book creates any expectations of a sudden dramatic change in a child’s behavior, that would be a disservice. Both Dad and Lil are light-skinned.
Amusing but misleading on the nutritional and behavioral fronts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781665942638
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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