Sweet, simple, and nicely illustrated.
A miniature donkey needs love in this children’s picture book.
Harriet has always lived on a farm with about a dozen miniature donkeys like herself. Every day is much the same: eating, exploring, and playing. She has friends, Sally and Nacho, but tiny Harriet yearns for more attention from the farmer at feeding time; she can’t seem to make her way forward for hugs and affection. One day, something unexpected happens: Harriet, with Sally and Nacho, is driven to a large pasture owned by Mr. Michael, a friendly farmer. There’s plenty of oats, hay, and water, and, with only three donkeys, Mr. Michael can pay attention to each of them. Harriet decides the best thing about the new farm is definitely Mr. Michael’s hugs. Guiles (Harriet's Big Adventure, 2015) tells a very simple story well. Harriet’s plight is sympathetic but not overdone, and readers will enjoy seeing her desire for love and affection being met at last. It’s unknown how the donkeys come to be living on a farm or why some are moved, but for Harriet, as for small children, the world can be arbitrary like that. Whalen’s lovely, softly colored images are realistic yet still very expressive—a good choice that elevates the book.
Sweet, simple, and nicely illustrated.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5255-0880-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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