IT'S A GIFT!

Name: IT'S A GIFT!
Author: Gabriela Keselman
ISBN: 978-84-15784-92-0

by Gabriela Keselman ; illustrated by Nora Hilb ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 13, 2014

Very little fun and lots of preaching do not make a good story. If the lesson is to give away all your stuff until you have...

bookshelf

Anthropomorphic animals enact something of a frenzy of giving and receiving.

Little Duck is having a fine time splashing in his pool, but his friend Beaver didn’t bring her hat, and now the sun hurts her. Little Duck offers Beaver his nest as a hat. Squirrel is hungry—“I’ve lost my nuts!” she cries—so Little Duck gives her his bread sandwich. Bear, who laments his empty water jug, is comforted when Little Duck allows him to drink up the whole pool. Little Duck even pulls out a feather so Mouse can write down a poem he just thought of. Little Duck now realizes he doesn’t have anything left at all and starts to cry. His friends rally round, praising his “big heart,” and Otter brings a bathtub full of water while Rabbit scurries over with cookies. An awkwardly phrased blurb on the back cover does nothing to clarify this clunky parable. The pictures are bright, with watercolor effects and very childlike animals, but they are not appealing enough to counteract the opacity of the text.

Very little fun and lots of preaching do not make a good story. If the lesson is to give away all your stuff until you have nothing left, what child wants to learn that? (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: May 13, 2014

ISBN: 978-84-15784-92-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Cuento de Luz

Review Posted Online: March 16, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

bookshelf

PIRATES DON'T TAKE BATHS

by John Segal and illustrated by John Segal ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2011

bookshelf

Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: March 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

- BOOK REVIEW
FAR FAR AWAY!
by John Segal & illustrated by John Segal

- BOOK REVIEW
ALISTAIR AND KIP’S GREAT ADVENTURE!
by John Segal & illustrated by John Segal

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LONELY MOOSE
by John Segal & illustrated by John Segal

bookshelf

THE LITTLE PUPPY

From the My Little Animal Friend series

by Nicola Killen ; illustrated by Nicola Killen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 3, 2024

Gives new meaning to the notion that every dog—or pup—has its day.

bookshelf

A young girl learns that plans that go awry need not spoil the day.

Ollie has ambitious intentions for dog sitting Milo, her grandmother’s puppy, but those plans are spoiled when he chews up her drawing, a gift intended for Grandma when she returns from visiting friends. The girl scolds the little dog and then takes some time to herself, leaving him behind and walking farther and farther away from home in order to cool off. But as the illustrations show, Milo is never far behind, surreptitiously trailing her all the way through the woods. Ollie reflects on the part she played in the drawing’s destruction, since she knew better than to leave it unguarded on the floor, and she regrets getting mad at the dog. When she finally stops and wishes for company, the loyal pup is right nearby. They spend their day frolicking in the woods, playing fetch, splashing in mud puddles, and hunting for treasure as pirates. When they return home, she still has time to draw another picture or two. Accessible text with relatable, appealing characters helps the message of adaptability go down smoothly. The charming artwork features various shades of gray as well as pink and red spot color, often in heart shapes. Ollie, who has skin the white of the page, wears a dog costume throughout the story. Her experience demonstrates that things can work out just fine, even when they weren’t what you had in mind.

Gives new meaning to the notion that every dog—or pup—has its day. (Picture book. 4-7)