Cheeky animal makeovers take a back seat to an engaging lesson about kindness.
An ambitious bovine realizes that fancy isn’t necessarily desirable in this picture book.
Ella Bella Bovine likes high heels and glitzy colors. Shania the sheep prefers her shaggy wool just the way it is. One day, Ella Bella decides to give the farmyard a makeover, saying, “I’m going to banish the boring right out of this farm!” After bedecking the place with sparkles, bright paints, and lights, she finds that the farmyard animals want makeovers, too. But when Ella Bella offers to transform Shania, the sheep turns her down—and becomes the butt of jokes by two of their friends. Soon, Ella Bella recognizes that being stylish isn’t what’s important. Instead, she should appreciate her pals for who they are. Three apologies later, the two friends are on the same page—and after a few seasons, Shania reveals why she wanted to grow her wool. Boock, author of the chapter book Kinzie’s Got Talent (2020) and its sequels, masters the art of choosing the perfect words for every page, especially glamorous (and sometimes invented) rhymes: razzled, dazzled, and pizazzleddescribe the farmyard’s renovation. Kuriakose’s painted illustrations are filled with brilliant colors that transform the farm’s original frumpy appearance while highlighting that a sheep’s decision to keep her shag makes her equally lovable. The friendship lesson here, along with the clever turns of phrase and vivid images, are likely to make this a hit with Fancy Nancy series fans.
Cheeky animal makeovers take a back seat to an engaging lesson about kindness.Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-951546-14-4
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Indigo Books LLC
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires.
Little Blue Truck feels, well, blue when he delivers valentine after valentine but receives nary a one.
His bed overflowing with cards, Blue sets out to deliver a yellow card with purple polka dots and a shiny purple heart to Hen, one with a shiny fuchsia heart to Pig, a big, shiny, red heart-shaped card to Horse, and so on. With each delivery there is an exchange of Beeps from Blue and the appropriate animal sounds from his friends, Blue’s Beeps always set in blue and the animal’s vocalization in a color that matches the card it receives. But as Blue heads home, his deliveries complete, his headlight eyes are sad and his front bumper droops ever so slightly. Blue is therefore surprised (but readers may not be) when he pulls into his garage to be greeted by all his friends with a shiny blue valentine just for him. In this, Blue’s seventh outing, it’s not just the sturdy protagonist that seems to be wilting. Schertle’s verse, usually reliable, stumbles more than once; stanzas such as “But Valentine’s Day / didn’t seem much fun / when he didn’t get cards / from anyone” will cause hitches during read-alouds. The illustrations, done by Joseph in the style of original series collaborator Jill McElmurry, are pleasant enough, but his compositions often feel stiff and forced.
Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-27244-1
Page Count: 20
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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