George the bear is bored.
He doesn’t want to “do the usual bear things” like his sisters and brothers, but he’s not sure what he does want. When he finds a book under a tree in the forest, though, that all changes. Enticed by its pictures of a bear “just like him” and despite warnings from his siblings, he heads to town to find the book’s owner in hopes she or he will teach him to read. His arrival is far from warm: All the people scream and run away. He locates the school, expecting to find children, but it’s empty. Then two things happen: Police in riot gear arrive and surround George even as a little girl shows up with her mother and claims the book is hers. Of course, the twosome pair up to the satisfaction of all, proving once again that reading is magic, and for George, it’s just the beginning. Chichester Clark’s signature style makes the story appealing. The font varies size to match the differing volume of voices and build the drama. Clever details add humor and visual interest. By the end, the chief of police is reading poetry to George; collaged-in bits of printed fabric enhance the bear’s lush and verdant wood. Inherent to the story is the subtle message that there’s a difference between not being able to read and not wanting to read.
A combination of farce and fun, this will tickle pre-readers. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2015
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
12
GET IT
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2021 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
