A good choice to reassure less-assertive children that the world is safe and full of sights to explore solo—or with a friend.
Mother Kangaroo is ready for Little Kangaroo, who is not so little anymore, to leave her pouch and explore the world on her own legs. But Little Kangaroo would rather stay put.
Van Genechten’s story of a small child separating from her parent, first published in Belgium, is a welcome relief in the age of helicopter parenting. The mother’s constant encouragement to view the beauty all around is rejected time and again by the joey. She’s quite content to remain with her mother, who introduces her offspring to butterflies, birds, monkeys, giraffes, and elephants. In the reverse of The Runaway Bunny, Little Kangaroo refuses to leave her mother. She starts out with eyes closed, hugging her parent, plugging her ears to block out the world. But slowly, she turns around and hangs her feet out of the pouch, delighted by the wonders around her. Then, surprisingly, the joey completely changes her mind and hops out of her mother’s warm pouch, never looking back. What caused such a change? All the wild animals are easy to recognize, with clean, black lines and traditional colors and shapes. Accents in the landscape are filled in with graphic patterns, which provide interest to the colorful pages.
A good choice to reassure less-assertive children that the world is safe and full of sights to explore solo—or with a friend. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: June 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-60537-338-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
A nifty read while everyone waits for the turkey to cook.
“Like” isn’t a strong enough word to express this feline’s feelings for Thanksgiving: “Bad Kitty LOVES turkey.”
Bad Kitty can do without all the fixings, though, thank you very much. In fact, the black cat’s expressive face and body language at just the thought of green beans or mashed potatoes or cranberry sauce will be familiar to caregivers who deal with picky eaters: paws clutching the throat, eyes bulging, and tongue stuck way out, for example. But when devious Kitty cooks up some plans to get all the turkey for herself, they go sadly awry. Instead, Kitty has close and calamitous encounters with green beans, then mashed potatoes, and finally cranberry sauce…along with a scolding from her human, who says there will be no turkey for Bad Kitty at all. The cat kicks the table in her rage, injuring her foot and bringing the turkey down on top of her. The final page repeats the title, depicting Bad Kitty in her basket with a bandaged head and foot and Chinese takeout containers crowding the dinner table. Simple text with lots of repetition makes this accessible for the youngest Bad Kitty fans, and the included stickers (meant for decoration, as there is no place for them in the book) cement the deal for that age group. Bruel’s masterful control of slapstick will have readers in stitches.
A nifty read while everyone waits for the turkey to cook. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: July 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-19842-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
As a counting book, fun. As a new Sendak book, by its mere existence, notable.
A posthumously published tale of overly prolific bunnies from a master of the picture-book form.
A young magician bows before readers and releases a rabbit from his hat. More and more rabbits appear. As the book counts from one rabbit to 10, the boy becomes increasingly frustrated with the sheer number of bunnies appearing from his headwear. His irritation is alleviated only when the narrator declares, “So then—he made them vanish again!” Now the numbers count down, and with every rabbit gone the child grows distinctly happier and more lighthearted. Originally created in 1970 as a pamphlet for a fundraiser for Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Museum, this book is visually similar to such Sendak crowd-pleasers as the Nutshell Library titles, particularly One Was Johnny (1962). Adult fans seeking the darker and weightier subject matter associated with the author’s later works would do best to look elsewhere. Children, however, will be drawn to the escalating tide of fuzzy bunnies and will share the protagonist’s sense of satisfaction at watching them go. The artwork is filled with simple charm, and the counting element proves to be a nice plus as well. The protagonist has skin the white of the page.
As a counting book, fun. As a new Sendak book, by its mere existence, notable. (Picture book. 2-4)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9780062644671
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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