by J. Patrick Lewis & illustrated by Bob Barner ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2007
Bright, bold collages of torn paper, pastels and tempera fairly jump off the pages as Barner and Lewis team up with this concept book in rhyme for lap listeners. “Big is big and little, little / If you are somewhere in the middle” starts off the series of bouncy, whimsical couplets. The enormous whale takes up most of the double-page spread, while the jolly middle-sized fish chases after the tiny one, not realizing the danger. Well-known animals are chosen to illustrate the concepts, but some of the ideas might be a little over the heads of the target audience: “Young is young and old is old, / pink and blue—or silver and gold.” The picture of a presumably older hippo and two teeny hippos does not help the reader understand the idea. The more straightforward ideas are the most successful. “Day is day and night is night. / One is dark and one is light.” Still, preschool teachers will enjoy this somewhat slapdash examination of the oft-taught idea of opposites. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: May 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-8234-1909-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2007
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by J. Patrick Lewis ; illustrated by Miriam Nerlove
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by J. Patrick Lewis & Leigh Lewis ; illustrated by Maddie Frost
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by David Elliott & illustrated by Holly Meade ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2008
Energetic woodcuts accompany playfully simple poems as they give young readers an engaging tour of the barnyard. From the usual suspects—rooster, cow, sheep—to some of the less celebrated denizens of the farm—snake, bees, turtle—each poem varies to suit its subject. The barn cat’s verse is succinct: “Mice / had better / think twice.” The snake’s winds its way down the page in sinuous shape. At their best, Elliott’s images are unexpected and all the more lovely: The turtle “Lifts her fossil head / and blinks / one, two, three / times in the awful light.” Others are not so successful, but Meade’s illustrations give them credence: The rooster “Crows and struts. / He’s got feathers! / He’s got guts!” This rhythmic but rather opaque assertion is accompanied by an oversized rooster who dominates the foreground; eyes shut in concentration, he levitates himself with the force of his crow—the very embodiment of “guts.” Farmyard books are a dime a dozen, but this one is a worthwhile addition, for those poems that reach beyond the ordinary and for the good-natured illustrations that complement them. (Picture book/poetry. 2-5)
Pub Date: March 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3322-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2008
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by David Elliott ; illustrated by Ellen Rooney
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by David Elliott ; illustrated by Amy Schimler-Safford
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by David Elliott ; illustrated by Evan Turk
by Audrey Wood & illustrated by Bruce Wood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2004
This charming, colorful counting tale of ten little fish runs full-circle. Although the light verse opens and closes with ten fish swimming in a line, page-by-page the line grows shorter as the number of fish diminishes one-by-one. One fish dives down, one gets lost, one hides, and another takes a nap until a single fish remains. Then along comes another fish to form a couple and suddenly a new family of little fish emerges to begin all over. Slick, digitally-created images of brilliant marine flora and fauna give an illusion of underwater depth and silence enhancing the verse’s numerical and theatrical progression. The holistic story bubbles with life’s endless cycle. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-439-63569-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2004
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More by Audrey Wood
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by Audrey Wood ; illustrated by Don Wood
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by Audrey Wood ; illustrated by Don Wood
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by Audrey Wood & illustrated by Don Wood
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