It would be hard to come up with a tale of western settlers that's not a cliché, but Bunting (Spying on Miss Muller, p. 553, etc.) has done it. She takes a look at a pioneer woman, seen through the sympathetic eyes of her daughter, Zoe. While Zoe's father is challenged by the prospect of building a sod house on his turf, his pregnant wife is obviously homesick, and the prairie offers little solace: The view never changes, there are few neighbors, the closest town is a day's journey. In the gift of a miraculous patch of dandelions dug up from the roadside, Zoe hopes to cheer her mother (for a book for older readers, with a similar theme, see the review of Jennifer Armstrong's Black-Eyed Susan, above). Of the re-rooting of the dandelions, her mother says, "Don't expect a miracle, Zoe. It will take time." The last page shows the sod house crowned by a roof of gold. Shed (Staton Rabin's Casey Over There, 1994) creates scenes that makes this family larger-than-life; they capture the baked yellow heat of summer, and the golden weed that represents home. A memorable book, for the way its characters struggle with unhappiness, and slowly overcome it. (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-15-200050-X
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1995
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note.
Little Honey Bunny Funnybunny loves baseball almost as much as she loves her big brother P.J.—though it’s a close-run thing.
Readers familiar with the pranks P.J. plays on his younger sibling in older episodes of the series (most illustrated by Roger Bollen) will be amused—and perhaps a little confused—to see him in the role of perfect big brother after meeting his swaddled little sister for the first time in mama’s lap. But here, along with being a constant companion and “always happy to see her,” he cements his heroic status in her eyes by hitting a home run for his baseball team and then patiently teaching her how to play T-ball. After carefully coaching her and leading her through warm-up exercises, he even sits in the stands, loudly cheering her on as she scores the winning run in her own very first game. “‘You are the best brother a bunny could ever have!’” she burbles. This tale’s a tad blander compared with others centered on P.J. and his sister, but it’s undeniably cheery, with text well structured for burgeoning readers. The all-smiles animal cast in Bowers’ cartoon art features a large and diversely hued family of bunnies sporting immense floppy ears as well as a multispecies crowd of furry onlookers equally varied of color, with one spectator in a wheelchair.
A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9798217032464
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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