Shannon dishes up a delicious trio of original “noodle” tales, set in bucolic Wise Acres and featuring a farmyard menagerie that stars Debbie, a cow with the heart and hooves of a dancer. Hearing of the Secret Chicken Club, Debbie so yearns to join that its members relax the rules for entry from laying eggs and eating worms to laughing at a lame knock-knock joke. Later, she’s distressed when her artificial “beak” (a funnel) mysteriously disappears after she lays it down in her shadow before bounding off to rehearse for an alfresco recital. Sandwiched between these two episodes is an even better one: Believing that “chicken noodle” soup is called that because it makes chickens smarter, Doug the rooster sets out to buy some—until Pearl the goat’s horrifying suggestion that, since soups are named for what goes into them, its main ingredient must be chicken brains. Illustrated with sunny watercolor scenes of popeyed livestock (all of whom, by the end, are club members) dancing and being silly, this is sure to have children signing on in flocks for repeat readings. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-59354-118-X
Page Count: 40
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2005
This exploration of the fear of the new and different—the strange, as in “stranger”—is so heavily tilted to the gathering worries of the young protagonists that the ultimate meeting with the object of their concern is supremely anticlimactic. Two kittens, Cosy and Posy, are informed by their mother that Giraffe is coming to dinner. Having never met Giraffe, the kittens are at first curious and then increasingly alarmed as they hear from their friends about Giraffe’s oddness, from his long neck and spots to his height. When Giraffe appears, he offers the kittens his neck as a slide and instantly all is right with the world. There is relief, but no sense that the kittens know how baseless their fears were, nor that their trepidations were simply products of their imaginations. Readers may come away with the feeling that the kittens were soothed this time, but that the next time their fears will be just as out of control. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30059-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
PLB 0-688-15542-1 My Day In The Garden ($16.00; PLB $15.93; Apr.; 24 pp.; 0-688-15541-3; PLB 0-688-15542-1): The creative heroines in this gentle story of easy companionship show that rainy days can be full of fun. “Berry-picking with the birds./Lunch with the ladybugs./Under a tree for a nap,” are among the scenes; with the aid of costumes and the girls’ imaginations, the foursome create their own party, dressing up as butterflies, ladybugs, crickets, even worms. They eat, wriggle, sing, and play hide-and-seek. As darkness falls, the girls disband, and one child is seen asleep, with more dreams of the garden dancing in her head. Lobel’s idyllic illustrations are as lovely as a sunny summer afternoon, while the lyrical text demonstrates inventive simplicity. Charming. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-15541-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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