Four children learn about fractions when they wish on a star and only get partial wish fulfillments. Four-year-old Petey and his two-year-old brother, Joey, make the first wishes on the star, asking for a dollar. Sally, eight, thinks they are both goofy, but the next morning Petey is a quarter richer. He wishes again, while Joey asks for a cookie. Petey receives another quarter and Joey gets half a cookie. At this point, Sally and her twin Samantha get in on the wishing. But each receives only an eighth of their wish. Putting their heads together, they determine that their ages are the key, and that if they all wish for the same thing, they can get one whole. And what a wish it is! Currey’s watercolor illustrations capture the wonder and puzzlement in the children’s faces as they ponder their wishing star. She visually presents the fractional parts, as well as the number of parts required to make a whole, and adds the fractional notation. The kids’ clever way of testing their math will have teachers applauding, as will the amazing mind-stretching follow-up page, which gives readers some thought-provoking questions to further explore the concepts presented in the book. A clever concept done well. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: July 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-8050-7665-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2007
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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