by Frank Asch & illustrated by Frank Asch ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1994
In this bland consciousness-raiser, Asch (Hands Around Lincoln, p. 63, etc.) casts the relationship between a boy and nature as friendship. ``The Earth and I are friends. Sometimes we go for long walks together.'' Each drop of rain, each fingernail on the boy's hand, each brick of his house is rendered in a ripple of rainbow hues, giving Asch's simple shapes and usually spacious compositions a crowded, overworked look. The ``friendship'' is portrayed largely in figurative, generalized, or symbolic ways. To ``tell her what's on my mind,'' the lad stands on a tortoise whose shell markings suggest a world map; later, coming upon a littered, polluted stream (``When she's sad, I'm sad''), he carries the trash away (to where?) and plants a flower. In the last scene, he hugs a tree. Worthy insight perhaps, but so painfully earnest that readers are unlikely to feel more than a superficial, temporary response. (Fiction/Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-15-200443-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1994
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by Anne Rockwell & illustrated by Megan Halsey ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2004
In this rather blinkered tour through the annual cycle, a child tallies the exact dates of the solstices and equinoxes while observing natural changes that mark each season. Some of those observations are simplistic—in spring: “Every day the air gets warmer.” “June 21st is the first day of summer. Green sprouts spring up from the field.” The possibility that seasons might not be so distinct beyond the author’s New England home is acknowledged only in an inconspicuous, small-type note. In characteristically clear, uncluttered illustrations, Halsey places the young narrator/naturalist in a generic rural setting. Previous Rockwell/Halsey collaborations, such as One Bean (1998) and Two Blue Jays (2003), introduce narrower topics to young children more successfully; for a basic but more inclusive introduction to the seasons, there are plenty of other choices. (Picture book/nonfiction. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-8027-8883-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2004
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by Anne Rockwell ; illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell
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by Karen Jameson ; illustrated by Marc Boutavant ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 27, 2020
Sweet fare for bed- or naptimes, with a light frosting of natural history.
A sonorous, soporific invitation to join woodland creatures in bedding down for the night.
As in her Moon Babies, illustrated by Amy Hevron (2019), Jameson displays a rare gift for harmonious language and rhyme. She leads off with a bear: “Come home, Big Paws. / Berry picker / Honey trickster / Shadows deepen in the glen. / Lumber back inside your den.” Continuing in the same pattern, she urges a moose (“Velvet Nose”), a deer (“Tiny Hooves”), and a succession of ever smaller creatures to find their nooks and nests as twilight deepens in Boutavant’s woodsy, autumnal scenes and snow begins to drift down. Through each of those scenes quietly walks an alert White child (accompanied by an unusually self-controlled pooch), peering through branches or over rocks at the animals in the foregrounds and sketching them in a notebook. The observer’s turn comes round at last, as a bearded parent beckons: “This way, Small Boots. / Brave trailblazer / Bright stargazer / Cabin’s toasty. Blanket’s soft. / Snuggle deep in sleeping loft.” The animals go unnamed, leaving it to younger listeners to identify each one from the pictures…if they can do so before the verses’ murmurous tempo closes their eyes.
Sweet fare for bed- or naptimes, with a light frosting of natural history. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7063-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
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