THE VERY BUSY DAY

Big Mouse out-drones the Little Red Hen in this clash of wills that’s a companion volume to Hendry’s The Very Noisy Night (1999). As Big Mouse works in the garden, he tries to enlist the help of Little Mouse, but Little Mouse begs leave: “I’m busy thinking about my dream.” Big Mouse continues to hector Little Mouse: come plant the seeds; come help weed; come give me a hand pushing the wheelbarrow to the dump; come pick berries with me. Little Mouse always has a handy and frivolous excuse: There’s dreaming to be done, daisies to be chained, clover to be picked, feathers to be collected. Ultimately, a more practical aspect is revealed behind Little Mouse’s seemingly random doings: a beautiful sun hat for Big Mouse. Why doesn’t Big Mouse try it on, take a break in the hammock, and—say—why not sample a few of those berries? Big Mouse almost declines the gift, which seems a bit much even for so sour a puss, but agrees to the brief foray into serendipity. Verdant artwork, full of humorous visual asides, softens the stridency, but Big Mouse’s priggishness overwhelms Little Mouse’s whimsicality and tends to curdle the whole proceedings. Leo Lionni said it first and better in Frederick. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: March 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-525-46825-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2001

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Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.

YOUR BABY'S FIRST WORD WILL BE DADA

A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.

A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: June 9, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015

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Stick to separate books about parental love and prayer instead.

WHEN I TALK TO GOD, I TALK ABOUT YOU

This Is Us actor Metz and her partner, songwriter Collins, present a rhyming children’s book about prayer and parental love.

“When I talk to God, guess what I do? / It’s really quite simple: I talk about you.” Fields’ pencil and digital illustrations show different parent-child animal pairs throughout, from bears to otters to skunks, ducks, deer, and more. But from this auspicious beginning, the authors’ point of view and direct address to “you,” the child, makes the majority of the pages seem like affirmations of what they love about their child and not what the parent actually prays for. Adults reading this aloud may see this as a prayer of thanksgiving for their child’s gifts and qualities, but little listeners will not make that connection. In the final pages, the parent tells the child that they can talk to God, too, and that God is always by their side. The last spread states, “You’re my sweetest prayer.” While the individual parts are sweet and affirming of a parent’s love and pride in their child, the sum of those parts isn’t what’s advertised in the title and repetitive refrain “When I talk to God, / I talk about you.” The gentle artwork in soft colors anthropomorphizes the animals’ facial expressions to make their loving relationships clear. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Stick to separate books about parental love and prayer instead. (Religious picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2023

ISBN: 978-0-593-52524-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Flamingo Books

Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022

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