Colorless Mr. Hatch—who works in a shoelace factory and eats a cheese and mustard sandwich for lunch every day with, just occasionally, a prune—is jarred from his reserve by receiving a huge Valentine box of candy with a card that says only, ``Somebody loves you.'' Amazed, he samples it, shares it at work and, buoyed by his friendly reception, sympathetically helps several people out on the way home (e.g., he watches the newspaper stall so that its proprietor can take his cold to the doctor). He's soon baking brownies, hosting a neighborhood picnic, and reading to the local kids. Then the postman arrives with the news that the candy was delivered to the wrong address, putting poor Mr. Hatch into a funk; but his devoted new friends rally round to bring him back into their cheerful society. Told with warmth and a light touch, the story easily transcends its predictability. It's much enhanced by Yalowitz's mellow color- pencil illustrations. His unique elongated characters with their extra-tall heads are at once animated and serene; the smooth clarity of his scenes is enlivened with many amusing details. A charming book with a real plot, its amiable tone beautifully complemented by the intriguing illustrations. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Jan. 30, 1992
ISBN: 0-02-786015-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1991
When Rebecca Estelle was a little girl, money was scarce. Once for an entire month her family had nothing to eat but pumpkins, so Rebecca Estelle never wants to look at a pumpkin again. Every year while she tends her garden, she simply turns her back on the pumpkin truck as it rumbles by. When a pumpkin falls off the truck into her yard and smashes, she covers it with dirt and tries not to think about it, but by the next year, pumpkin vines have taken root. She resolutely ignores them all summer, but in the fall there are so many pumpkins in her front yard, she can ignore them no longer. Her creative solution makes a fine harvest and Halloween story. White's story features a perfectly plucky individual in Rebecca Estelle, and the detailed line and watercolor illustrations pick up the story and run with it. Lloyd (who illustrated Carolyn Otto's What Color is Camouflage?, p. 1240) gives Rebecca Estelle a fine old brick house with a ramble of garden sheds and chicken coops out back. Esmeralda, the heroine's sidekick cat, provides a particularly expressive counterpoint in almost every picture. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1996
ISBN: 0-8234-1245-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
This catch is fumbled.
Having attempted to catch the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Gingerbread Man, a group of kids set their sights on a groundhog.
After two score and counting How To Catch books, this latest addition suggests that there’s nothing left to capture. The verses are feeble (“But I’m chilled to my bones deep inside / I feel the wind across my backside”), while the illustrations are mundane. On one page, a child crouches in a drift eating “stick cheese” (apparently because it rhymes with “trees”). Another catches a football thrown by a friend but falls across a stone slab, breaking it in two. Far below, the anthropomorphic groundhog’s breakfast is disturbed; his cup, saucer, creamer, and sugar bowl are jostled. “Tomorrow is his big holiday,” the children note. “Will a shadow fall outside the den? / We need him to answer this riddle: / we know winter ends but not when.” Ultimately, though the intrepid hunters set a series of traps, they’re disappointed to catch only a rabbit. The groundhog, it turns out, is hibernating in an elaborate wrought iron bed. On the very next page, the mayor holds up the beast. How was he caught, then? We don’t know. What was his verdict on winter’s duration? We don’t know. Will the series ever stop? We can only hope. Human characters are diverse.
This catch is fumbled. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9781728293035
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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