Sweet, if freighted.
Cabrera transmutes the simple children’s song into a participatory singalong with a nod to wildlife diversity.
A girl puppy (she has eyelashes and wears a dress) and a boy kitten (he wears a shirt and shorts and has no visible eyelashes) row, row, row that little boat down a green river through a jungly setting. The first verse is the familiar one, and as the pages turn, they meet different animals, all with cute childlike faces and each paired with a verse that encourages animal noises from the audience. “Row, row, row your boat / Closer to the shore. / If you see a lion smile, / Don’t forget to roar. / ROARRR!” In addition to the smiling lion, the rowing pair encounters swimming mice, a monkey (“OO, OO, AH, AH!”), an elephant, a crocodile, a tiger and singing doves (“COO!”). As it gets dark, puppy and kitten see mommy dog on the shore, and “wearily, wearily, wearily, wearily,” they “snuggle up and dream.” Thick impasto acrylics and clear colors with many shades of green underscore the dedication to Earth’s “disappearing forests,” though the illustrations make no attempt to create a recognizable, specific habitat. It may seem like a heavy message for this familiar nursery song; on the other hand, the original “life is but a dream” has philosophical and theological implications galore. Music and all the verses are appended.
Sweet, if freighted. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3050-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
The familiar singsong repetitiveness is catchy in all settings, holiday or otherwise.
A hoppy, snappy Easter version of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.
Three young tots, with varied skin tones and baskets ready in their hands, eagerly scamper on a spring day to find some eggs. But of course, they meet hindrances along the way. “Ooh, look … // Chickens! / Flapping, pecking chickens.” Thus starts the rolling refrain: “Can’t go over them. / Can’t go under them. / Can’t go around them. // Got to go through them!” The waddling chickens don’t pose much of an obstacle, but they do “Cluck-cluck!” loudly as they scatter in the sun. The three youngsters then must face “fluffy, hungry bunnies” (adorable long-eared puffballs with carrot fronds in their mouths) and “happy, hopping frogs” as they balance on stones to cross a pond. All of this leads to a garden bursting with colorful flowers (“Rustle-swish! / Rustle-swish!”) and finally…10 eggs in pastel patterns. Each egg has a number on it to encourage readers to count along and strengthen their numeracy skills. Rozelaar’s plump and rounded world, with roly-poly trees, flowers, and hills, wraps the tale in coziness.
The familiar singsong repetitiveness is catchy in all settings, holiday or otherwise. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9798887771304
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
The book is available in just about every format--but this is the perfect one.
It's hard to believe that a pop-up wasn't the creators' original intention, so seamlessly do moveable parts dovetail into this modern classic's storyline.
In contrast to the tale's 1998 pop -up version, the figures here move on every page, and with an unusually graceful naturalism to boot. From pulling down Big Nutbrown Hare's ears on the opening spread to make sure he's listening to drowsily turning his head to accept a final good-night kiss in a multi-leveled pull-down tableau at the close, all of Little Nutbrown Hare's hops, stretches and small gestures serve the poetically spare text—as do Big Nutbrown's wider, higher responses to his charge's challenges. As readers turn a flap to read Big Nutbrown's "But I love you this much," his arms extend to demonstrate. The emotional connection between the two hares is clearer than ever in Jeram's peaceful, restrained outdoor scenes, which are slightly larger than those in the trade edition, and the closing scene is made even more intimate by hiding the closing line ("I love you right up to the moon—and back") until an inconspicuous flap is opened up.
The book is available in just about every format--but this is the perfect one. (Pop-up picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5378-1
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
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