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THIMBLE SUMMER

I liked this story of the events through the summer months on a Wisconsin farm, events with enough element of surprise and adventure and yet sound in content and with a good deal about the round of activities, — barn raising, threshing, etc. The title comes from the feeling on the part of the small heroine that her finding of the thimble had brought luck to the farm.

Pub Date: Aug. 18, 1928

ISBN: 0805003061

Page Count: 140

Publisher: Farrar & Rinehart

Review Posted Online: April 24, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1938

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MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS

I've seen only three double spreads and the text of this picture book by the author-artist of Lentil — but I'm sure it is going to be an enchanting and very original book. Mr. Mallard thinks the Boston Public Gardens would be a nice place to raise a family; but Mrs. Mallard is afraid of the swan boats, though the peanuts tempt her too. So she makes her nest near the River Charles, and agrees to meet Mr. Mallard in the Public Gardens when the ducklings have had some training. The time comes; she sets out with the ducklings stringing along behind her. It takes the Boston police department to get them across the streets, but get there they do, and reach the Public Garden pond in safety.

Pub Date: Aug. 18, 1941

ISBN: 0140564349

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1941

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THE THREE LITTLE SUPERPIGS AND THE GINGERBREAD MAN

Superheroes, and readers, will live happily-ever-after.

Why have fairy tales lasted so long? Maybe it’s because they change with every teller.

It takes surprisingly little effort to turn the Three Little Pigs into superheroes. The Big Bad Wolf basically started out as a supervillain, with the ability to blow a house down, and the pigs had to perform spectacular feats to outwit him. In this picture book, the wolf, locked in the Happily Never After tower, devises a plot to escape. Using rotten eggs and spicy ginger, he creates the Gingerbread Man, who makes his way to a baking contest where the three pigs and other fairy-tale characters are competing to win the key to the city. The Gingerbread Man grabs the key, and not even superhero pigs are fast enough to catch him, but with their secret weapon—mustard (which one of the pigs also uses to bake cookies)—they save the day. The morals: Evil never triumphs, and mustard cookies are delicious. The book’s charm is in the details. There are splotches of mustard on the cookies featured on the endpapers, and a sly-looking mouse is hiding on many of the pages. The story even manages to include more than a dozen fairy-tale figures without seeming frenzied. Evans’ use of shading is so skillful that it almost seems possible to reach out and touch the characters. Most of the human characters are light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Superheroes, and readers, will live happily-ever-after. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-338-68221-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022

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