Another amiable animal ramble from King-Smith—this one featuring a lonely Bactrian camel who breaks out of a Somerset zoo to look for a pal. Lipping open the latch to his cage, Hezekiah ambles through the closed zoo for chats with the lions and chimps, fills up on water in the men’s restroom and then (thanks to a notably inattentive zookeeper) sallies forth into the countryside, leaving chaos behind him as he plows through hedges and fences. At last, a conversation with some cows brings his quest to an end; directed to a local game park, he bonds with the animal-loving Earl who owns it, and hooks up with species-mate Hephzibah. “I do like happy endings!” exclaims the Earl. Hezekiah doesn’t have the vivid personality, nor the adventures of Star Livingstone’s llama Harley (2001), illustrated by Molly Bang, and doesn’t show much character in Bruel’s bland cartoons. Still, this low-key comedy will please newly independent readers. (Fantasy. 8-10)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-59643-318-2
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2007
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Varieties, life cycle, pack and hunting behavior, and the current status of this endangered predator—although with what may seem too many transparently rhetorical questions (``Are wolves savage and destructive hunters of people and livestock?'') and fillers (``After wolves kill a large animal, they may rest for a brief time or eat right away''). Without attribution, Simon states that ``...there is no record of a healthy wolf ever trying to kill a human in North America.'' In Gray Wolf, Red Wolf (1990, for slightly older readers), Patent is more precise: ``there is no record of a healthy wild wolf attacking a human.'' Patent also does a better job of stating the case for and against reintroducing wolves in national parks. Still, though his text isn't up to his usual high standard, Simon again selects outstanding photos—this book's strongest and most appealing feature. (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-022531-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1993
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