Raise your hats, everyone; raise them high!
In her debut picture book, adult novelist Straub offers a tip of the hat…to hats.
This captivating charmer isn’t about hats’ utilitarian functions—that is, the why, when, or how they’re worn. Nor will readers learn the latest scoop in millinery fashion trends. The author instead muses on…well, hats—mostly how and what they can be made from. And does she have ideas! Among many items, hats can be fashioned from pajama pants, towels, bathtime bubbles (temporarily), books, bowls, and—get this—even cats! Speaking of creativity, who says hats only go on heads? Hats fit on fingers, too: Have you ever tried adorning fingertips with raspberries, tortellini, chewed gum, and doll shoes? And—wait for it—where is it written that only people wear hats? Can’t houses, pots, turtles, woodland animals, and stuffed bears wear chapeaux, too? There are many more charming examples in this wonderfully clever title, and children will want to return to it again and again. Adults sharing this adorable winner should be prepared to use it to stimulate creative discussions, drawing, and/or craft-making activities. Children will have a ball donning their thinking caps and coming up with original ideas for devising all sorts of hats and various creatures and objects to wear them—including themselves. The digital illustrations incorporate paper collage and are as colorful, lively, and inventive as the text. Characters are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Raise your hats, everyone; raise them high! (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-52943-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Rocky Pond Books/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Can the bustling Rabbit and the laid-back Bear share a house? Wally, a big brown bear, is working in his vegetable garden when he gets a letter from his (wife's) Uncle Rabbit, announcing an imminent visit. Wally and his rabbit wife Mae make haste to clean up. Uncle arrives with two large trunks and lots of ideas about making over Mae and Wally's home. He rearranges the furniture, changes the wallpaper and makes new silk curtains, just for starters. It's too much for Wally, who angrily tells Uncle Rabbit that he hates all the changes. With admirable politeness, Uncle Rabbit says that it's time for him to leave. Wally's attempts to apologize don't change his position; he calls a taxi and departs, but not before offering to return and sort out Wally's garden. "You need a little variety," he declares. Kemper's clever premise is undermined by a vague and unsatisfying ending; Weldin's soft illustrations have more warmth than the story. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7358-2320-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
An adventurous boy disregards his grandfather’s orders to remain behind the closed garden gate when a fierce wolf is spotted in the neighborhood. When the dangerous wolf threatens Peter’s wildlife friends in the meadow, he succeeds in tricking and capturing it with the help of a small bird. The happy ending shows the hunters, Peter and Grandfather, proudly leading the wolf to the zoo. The story is best known as the narrative to Prokofiev’s symphony written for children, which introduces orchestral instruments through musical themes that represented each character. To those already familiar with the music, it may reverberate in their heads as they read the text. For those unfamiliar with the music, an afterword includes the musical notation and instrumentation of the themes and a very brief biography of Prokofiev. Peter’s story stands alone, illustrated with Vagin’s (The Enormous Carrot, 1998, etc.) pencil and watercolor drawings. Clothing, tableware, architecture, and Peter’s toys represent the pre-Revolutionary Russia of Prokofiev’s music and portray an authentic Russian folk quality. Each action-filled page depicts the personalities of the characters and their realistic actions: the cat hunches close to the ground as she stalks the bird; the wolf licks his lips in anticipation of a tasty meal; the duck’s feathers fly as he tries to run before the wolf swallows him whole. The exciting illustrations give another context to a modern folktale than can co-exist with the symphony that first made it famous. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-590-38608-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000
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