by Frank Asch ; illustrated by Frank Asch ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 19, 2016
A cool idea poorly executed.
Readers get a peek at what it would be like to visit a library that lends animals to patrons.
Sunny Miss Perkins is the librarian who works at the checkout desk, and Mr. Woozel is the zookeeper (both are white). On this particular day, there’s a crisis at the Lending Zoo: the tiger, Pancake, won’t eat his breakfast. When Miss Perkins, followed by Molly, a curious new black patron who was next in line, investigates, Pancake is missing. Eagle-eyed Molly spies the big cat’s tracks, and she and Miss Perkins are off to follow them on Miss Perkins’ motor scooter. The child’s parents are never seen, and Miss Perkins seems to think nothing of toting the young girl all over town on the back of her scooter (they do sport helmets), even jumping the gap between the roofs of two three-story buildings. Observant readers will be able to spy the runaway tiger, though the librarian and her charge do not catch up to him until he returns on his own to the Lending Zoo. And it turns out that Molly had been wanting to check out a tiger, so he’ll have more adventures. Asch’s digital illustrations are an odd mix—the animals are fairly finely detailed, but the rest of the pictures have the crisp, matte look of his pre-digital work. The humans’ facial expressions are strangely static, considering the amazing premise.
A cool idea poorly executed. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-6678-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
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by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by Jane Chapman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2024
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static.
In his latest outing, Bear and his pals go in search of eggs.
Bear “lumbers with his friends through the Strawberry Vale.” Raven finds a nest; climbing up, “The bear finds eggs!”: a refrain that appears throughout. Instead of eating the robin’s eggs, however, Bear leaves a gift of dried berries in the nest for the “soon-to-be-chicks.” Next, the friends find 10 mallard eggs (as bright blue as the robin’s), and Bear leaves sunflower seeds. Then the wail of Mama Meadowlark, whose bright yellow undercarriage strikes a warm golden note, leads them to promise to find her lost eggs. With his friends’ assistance, Bear finds one, and they decide to paint them “so they aren’t lost again.” Another is discovered, painted, and placed in Hare’s basket. After hours of persistent searching, Bear suddenly spots the remaining two eggs “in a small patch of clover.” Before they can return these eggs, the chicks hatch and rejoin their mother. Back at his lair, Bear, with his troupe, is visited by all 17 chicks and the robin, mallard, and meadowlark moms: “And the bear finds friends!” Though this sweet spring tale centers on finding and painting eggs, it makes no overt references to Easter. The soft green and blue acrylics, predictable rhymes, and rolling rhythm make this series installment another low-key natural read-aloud.
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781665936552
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by AG Ford
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