NUGGET ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Name: NUGGET ON TOP OF THE WORLD
Author: Hans de Beer
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4242-7

by Hans de Beer ; illustrated by Hans de Beer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2015

While there is a nugget of appeal in the illustrations of the endearing puppy, this effort falls short in its intended...

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In this Swiss import, a young dachshund puppy named Nugget explores the world outside his home, comparing his own small stature with larger animals and structures.

Nugget is only 10 months old, and he feels small and rather powerless, his view of the world limited to gazing up at large tables, towering trees, and sky-high buildings. As he ventures out on his own into the city, Nugget longs to see a great vista from a high perspective. With the help of his friends, the puppy finds his way to an enormous bridge where he looks down on the river and tall buildings and discovers “what it’s like to be big.” In the tradition of the traveler who gratefully returns home with an enlightened consciousness, Nugget finds his way back to his own cozy house and decides being a small and pampered pet is not so bad after all. While his quest to expand his worldview from a higher perspective has some philosophical validity, the illustrations do not show Nugget’s expansive view, and the story doesn’t convey his transformative experience. The text is a classic example of the need to show rather than tell, as the dog’s experiences and feelings are described in rather dry prose that fails to make Nugget a compelling character. The subject of relative perspective is explored with much greater success in You Are (Not) Small by Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant (2014).

While there is a nugget of appeal in the illustrations of the endearing puppy, this effort falls short in its intended thematic journey. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-7358-4242-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: NorthSouth

Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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LITTLE POLAR BEAR AND THE PANDAS
by Hans de Beer ; illustrated by Hans de Beer ; translated by David Henry Wilson

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LITTLE POLAR BEAR TAKES A STAND
by Hans de Beer ; illustrated by Hans de Beer ; translated by David Henry Wilson

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OLLIE THE ELEPHANT
by Burny Bos & illustrated by Hans de Beer

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THE TALENT SHOW

by Jo Hodgkinson and illustrated by Jo Hodgkinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2011

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The animal band needs a vocalist. When the four beastly friends learn about the Talent Show, they practice day and night. With Croc on piano, Lion on trumpet, Bear on drums and Snake shaking the maracas, they think they have a shot to win. But something is missing; it's Bear who realizes, "If we want to win this thing, / One of us will have to sing." All four try vocals, but none succeed. A little red bird—the same bird whose musical aspirations they mocked just days before—arrives to help the animals, but again they reject him. Shortly after, a very tall and mysterious figure in a trenchcoat impresses the whole quartet. Even the youngest readers will delightedly guess that he's the bird in disguise (on stilts). Heartfelt apologies and a winning performance follow. Hodgkinson's light verse bounces along, and her illustrations are a riot of color; her four predatory instrumentalists look cute and harmless (if initially ungracious). A breezy nudge for the nascent little music maker. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: March 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-7613-7487-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Andersen Press USA

Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

- BOOK REVIEW
A BIG DAY FOR MIGS
by Jo Hodgkinson ; illustrated by Jo Hodgkinson

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LITTLE BUNNY FOO FOO

THE REAL STORY

by Cori Doerrfeld & illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 19, 2012

Never have expectations been more thoroughly set up, and then gleefully confounded.

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Ever a guilty pleasure anyway, the popular but violent preschool hand rhyme takes a gothic turn in this startling iteration.

Doerrfeld concocts an oh-so-sweet visual story line for the lyric, setting a snub-nosed, big-eyed bunny baker off in pursuit of a crew of cute little cupcake rustlers. At first Little Bunny delivers only gentle cuffs with her oven mitt as she recovers the cupcakes, and she shows remorse when the pink-haired, pink-cheeked Good Fairy descends to warn that she’ll be turned into a monster if she keeps it up. But as the mice, joined by several birds and squirrels, continue to snatch bites, Foo Foo’s mild annoyance intensifies to such outright rage that the climactic transformation definitely turns out to be a tactical mistake on the Good Fairy’s part. Bright, simply painted pictures set the chase on a pleasant sward with an open, woodsy backdrop populated by relentlessly adorable little creatures, none of whom appear to be more than momentarily discomforted by all that bopping.

Never have expectations been more thoroughly set up, and then gleefully confounded. (Picture book. 4-6)