Poor text makes skipping this zoo trip advisable.
A visit to an unusual zoo sparks the imagination of an inquisitive little brown-skinned boy out with his white grandfather.
Boldly colored animals (and people) stand out in Hoogstad’s layered illustrations, which carry much of the book’s meaning. Each two-page spread (there are 12 in all) is quite busy, with fine, colored lines delineating environments on a predominantly white background. The boy and his grandfather walk through the gates of the zoo, and an array of colorful animals is there to greet them. The little boy wonders about animal spots and stripes; the background changes to place him and grandpa in an artist’s studio, where painters put spots on the giraffes and stripes on the zebras. An eye doctor’s office is the setting for two bright peacocks that are having the eyes in their tails examined. The ice blue polar bear stands among many tables of outdoor diners: “And when they’re faced with summer’s heat, / do polar bears eat summer treats?” Additional small pictures that suit the theme run around the perimeters of some pages, and the humans pictured are of many genders and ethnicities. But where the book’s design and illustrations enchant, the couplets do not. (Irritatingly, many are improperly punctuated as well as forced.)
Poor text makes skipping this zoo trip advisable. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-9359-5427-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lemniscaat USA
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2013
Flying with this bird should leave young human chicks feeling encouraged to spread their own wings.
A fledgling makes its first foray into the sky.
With not a little apprehension, a young robin considers the possibilities and perils of its inaugural flight. Though it’s every bird’s destiny to spread their wings and leave the nest eventually, it’s a scary proposition. Just when the feathered protagonist decides to give flight a pass, its mom deems the moment right for a gentle shove, causing it to tumble clumsily from its safe haven and make awkward attempts to rise. Encountering a toothy cat below leaves the bird no choice but to keep pumping its wings in an escape effort—then, holy fluttering, robin!—up it soars like the expert avia(n)tor it was meant to be. This is a charming tale, with the bird narrating fears and self-doubts, then exhilaration, in simple, lilting verse that aptly floats along breezily. Young readers/listeners will easily empathize as they contemplate daunting firsts of their own and take heart as they discover that pluck and practice win out. Equally appealing are the bright, delightful watercolor illustrations of the very expressive bird. (So saturated are they that the mother's plumage looks darker than it does in real life.) Two double-page spreads of further information for children and adults extend the story’s usefulness with a child-friendly Q-and-A illustrated with photos and literacy and STEM activities.
Flying with this bird should leave young human chicks feeling encouraged to spread their own wings. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-58469-638-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dawn Publications
Review Posted Online: Dec. 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
One Little Pig has a hut made out of sticks; it resembles a tepee. Next door, another Little Pig has a den; it's a hollow...
Everybody needs a house that's just right.
One Little Pig has a hut made out of sticks; it resembles a tepee. Next door, another Little Pig has a den; it's a hollow dug into some thick shrubbery. One morning, they go out foraging together; one finds a nice feather and the other an interesting stick. But when they get back home, they find Bear jammed into the den and Moose perched on top of the hut. Both are ruined! The new quartet of forest friends sits down together on a bench to figure a way out of this pickle. What if they all lived together in one big house? Moose calls the Beavers on the telephone (which is handily attached to a tree), and in no time the forest is turned into a construction site, with dozens of beavers in hard hats working alongside the housemates-to-be. They divide up the work and finish quickly, filling the house with furniture and curtains from the junkyard. What else is there left to do but throw a party for the Beavers? Moore's illustrations—in pencil, pastel and wash—picture the animals realistically (though on two legs and with expressively human body language) and have a warm cast, full of earth tones. They do the heavy lifting in telling the simple story of unlikely friendship and the virtue of industry.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5277-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011
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