Originally published in the Netherlands, this gifty little number follows Buck, a kindhearted deer who happens upon a “curiosity”—a seven-leaf clover. He gives it to his best friend Sparklehart, saying it’s for him but neglecting to say, “and no one else.” Sparklehart is thrilled, but then they notice the valley is covered with identical seven-leaf clovers. Sparklehart decides to impress some cute female deer with the clover, telling each with perfect insincerity that it’s “for you and no one else.” Buck is devastated, but soon after finds a twelve-leaf clover and hands it to his oblivious friend. He states loudly that it’s for HIM “AND NO ONE ELSE!” This time Sparklehart seems to get it. One has to wonder, though, why Buck likes the womanizing (or doe-izing) Sparklehart so much. Is Sparkle insensitive or Buck too sensitive? The point seems a little muddled. The expressive black-ink drawings tell most of the story, and since the grass-green text easily fades into the background, one can't help but think of the spare power this might have had as a wordless work. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: April 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-59078-658-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lemniscaat/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2009
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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A gray character tries to write an all-gray book.
The six primary and secondary colors are building a rainbow, each contributing the hue of their own body, and Gray feels forlorn and left out because rainbows contain no gray. So Gray—who, like the other characters, has a solid, triangular body, a doodle-style face, and stick limbs—sets off alone to create “the GRAYest book ever.” His book inside a book shows a peaceful gray cliff house near a gray sea with gentle whitecaps; his three gray characters—hippo, wolf, kitten—wait for their arc to begin. But then the primaries arrive and call the gray scene “dismal, bleak, and gloomy.” The secondaries show up too, and soon everyone’s overrunning Gray’s creation. When Gray refuses to let White and Black participate, astute readers will note the flaw: White and black (the colors) had already been included in the early all-gray spreads. Ironically, Gray’s book within a book displays calm, passable art while the metabook’s unsubtle illustrations and sloppy design make for cramped and crowded pages that are too busy to hold visual focus. The speech-bubble dialogue’s snappy enough (Blue calls people “dude,” and there are puns). A convoluted moral muddles the core artistic question—whether a whole book can be gray—and instead highlights a trite message about working together.
Low grade. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5420-4340-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Thomas scores again after What Will Fat Cat Sit On? (2007) with another droll crowd-pleaser for the OshKosh B’Gosh set. Scornfully rejecting Duck’s hilariously persistent efforts to add a turnip, Pig and Mouse create a luscious cake—only to find themselves saddled with eating it themselves (not that they mind) when Cow obliviously falls on Duck’s turnip, rapturously declaring this birthday the best one ever. Punctuated by punch-line words (usually “TURNIP”) in red, the huge, pithy text is paired to simply drawn figures that spill past the edges, and often seem ready to pop right up from the page. From the calendar countdown on the front endpapers (Cow’s birthday is October 17th, if you’re curious) to a closing joke on the rear ones about using turnips as toothbrushes, this riotous read-aloud is guaranteed to have them rolling in the aisles. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: April 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-15-206072-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2008
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