This bathtime rhyme will tickle young children, though the premise is stretched further than it really goes. Based on the day’s activity, each night the bath water becomes a differently colored “kid tea,” from Monday’s mud brown through popsicle purple, paint yellow, lipstick red and grass green, to bright blue after Saturday’s baking makes for a “muffins-pies-and-jam day / berries-on-my-hands day.” Dibley steeps two children with oversized heads and fixed grins in successive tubs, sometimes alone, sometimes together, and uses exaggeratedly bright, opaque hues for the resulting “teas.” After Sunday, a “go-to-church-and-sing day / steeple-bells-will-ring day,” the water’s clear, “but just you wait till Monday!” As an inducement to climb into the tub, this makes a bouncy alternative to the likes of Robert Neubecker’s Beasty Bath (2005) or the frothy sentiments in Neil Philip’s The Fish Is Me: Bathtime Rhymes, illus by Claire Henley (2002). (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-7614-5333-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2007
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING
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Listeners will quickly take up the percussive chorus—“Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy town! Is the trash truck full yet? NO”—as they follow burly Mr. Gilly, the garbage collector, on his rounds from park to pizza parlor and beyond.
Flinging cans and baskets around with ease, Mr. Gilly dances happily through streetscapes depicted with loud colors and large, blocky shapes; after a climactic visit to the dump, he roars home for a sudsy bath.
Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches Eve Merriam’s Bam Bam Bam (1995), also illustrated by Yaccarino, for sheer verbal and visual volume. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-027139-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION
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Energetic and earnest but not groundbreaking.
10
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Unlikely friends Bear and Rabbit face fears together.
The anthropomorphic creatures set out on an adventure. Graphic-based illustrations give the book a Pixar movie feel, with a variety of page layouts that keep the story moving. Large blocks of black text are heavy on dialogue patterns as timid Bear and bold Rabbit encounter obstacles. Bear fears every one of them, from the stream to the mountain. He’ll do anything to avoid the objects of terror: taking a bus, a train, and even a helicopter. As Rabbit asks Bear if he’s frightened, Bear repeatedly responds, “I’m not scared, you’re scared!” and children will delight in the call-and-response opportunities. Adults may tire of the refrain, but attempts to keep everyone entertained are evident in asides about Bear's inability to brush food from his teeth (he’s too afraid to look at himself in the mirror) and Rabbit's superstrong ears (which do come in handy later). When Rabbit finds herself in danger after Bear defects on the adventure, Bear retraces the trip. Along the way, he notes that the stream wasn't as deep, nor the mountain as high, as he thought when he was scared. While picture-book shelves may not be screaming for another comedically sweet bear story, especially one that treads such familiar territory, many readers will appreciate this tale of overcoming fears. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Energetic and earnest but not groundbreaking. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35237-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2022
Categories: CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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