The author/illustrator of City Green (1994) and Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen (1991) again celebrates community spirit, this time with a tale of a takecharge child who refuses to let her grandpa's corner grocery quietly disappear when a big supermarket opens down the street. Having already seen the neighborhood hardware store closed by competition, Lucy indignantly rejects the idea that her grandpa would likewise knuckle under; so she is understandably dismayed when a “For Sale” sign goes up. “ ‘The new supermarket will have everything from soup to nuts,’ ” Grandpa explains sadly. “ ‘But it won't have you,’ ” she rejoins—then marches off to organize the willing regulars, from her own classmates to the firefighters across the street, into a fix-it brigade. From plump resident tabby cat to worn checkerboard floor tiles, Grandpa's store positively exudes coziness, and in the final scenes DiSalvo-Ryan's industrious, multigenerational crowd is lit up as much by Grandpa's loving smile as by his bright red smock. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 30, 2000
ISBN: 0-688-16716-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Amanda (Boom Town, 1998, etc.) returns for her third adventure, this time standing in for her mother who has returned to the East to care for her ailing mother. Amanda figures she’s more than up to the challenge of housekeeping for her father, three older brothers, and Baby Nathan. Determined to do it all herself, Amanda spurns her father’s suggestion to seek help—even though dinners are getting progressively less appealing. Baby Nathan proves to be her true undoing, and finally Amanda solicits help, realizing that trouble shared is trouble halved. By the time her mother returns (an easy trip, apparently, to the other coast and back), Amanda is ready for an extended break, and readers will be, too. This story is a flat, humorless extension of the last two books; Baby Nathan’s shenanigans are predictable, forgettable, and woefully tame. Smith’s watercolors inject some spunk, but it may be time for Amanda’s adventures to come to a rest. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30149-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
PLB 0-7358-1072-9 The Little Green Goose ($15.95, PLB $15.88; Apr.; 32 pp.; 0-7358-1071-0, PLB 0-7358-1072-9): Single fatherhood gets a boost in this identity tale of a goose who yearns for a child. When the egg he adopts hatches into a brilliantly colored green dragon, the other members of the barnyard make fun of his child’s origins, noting the differences between offspring and parent. To the delight of readers, the text never refers to the creature as anything but a green goose, and the underlying message of the tale—that love, not biology, makes a family—will reassure listeners. Whimsical illustrations capture the gamut of emotions and the last spread could serve as an advertisement for contentment. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7358-1071-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
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