Every evening, after Papa comes home from work and washes off ``a day's worth of soil,'' he ``reads'' Kari a book, perhaps the one he calls ``Little Miss Too-Big-for-Her-Red-Britches'' (while the illustration depicts Little Red Riding Hood). Kari loves the way the stories vary from night to night, but as she gets older she begins to wonder. Suspicion turns to certainty when a friend who has just learned to read points out that the book's printed words are different. Going first to her mother (``If a person can't read, does that make them dumb?''), Kari goes on to level with Papa (``Were you ever gonna tell me?''). Fortunately, the bond they've built carries them through, while each has an unexpected gift for the other: when Kari offers to teach Papa once she's learned to read, it turns out he's already been learning, with Mama; and, after Papa demonstrates his new skill by reading her old favorite the new way, Kari asks to hear it ``again, like you always did.'' A sensitive, creatively plotted story, enhanced by the author's watercolors of middle- class African Americans; a natural pairing with Bunting's The Wednesday Surprise (1989). (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-02-747847-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1994
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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