Brilliant watercolors bounce off the page in this charming romp through the seasons. Happy yellows, pinks, greens, and blues pop against bright white backgrounds as readers follow a little brown bunny’s life over a year. The bunny lives near a garden that, aside from a nuisance of an old cat, is portrayed as a miniature Eden. She gorges on the summer harvest, hops among the fall pumpkins, and finds a bunny friend to hibernate with in the winter. So’s (The White Swan Express, p. 1397, etc.) minimal style and delicate hand create a lush environment while picturing just enough for the reader to focus on. Delicate dabs of pink and brown make a bunny’s face that actually seems to twitch and nibble on the page as a few soft brushstrokes of red and green create a juicy strawberry patch. Shulman’s (Countdown to Spring, 2002, etc.) sweet, maternal, though somewhat unimaginative, language lets the artwork have the spotlight, while providing a comforting, well-paced narrative. The content never becomes weighed down with its seasonal curriculum and the compact trim size fits the story’s light mood. To lighten moods even more, in the garden during the following spring “the brown bunny returned. The gray bunny came too. And guess what came with them? Their three new little bunnies!” In an increasingly complicated world, the simple joy projected here goes down easy. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2003
ISBN: 0-375-82256-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2002
Twilit enchantment.
Mama and Baby Bear are back, enjoying a summer evening of foraging enlivened by an enthusiastic game of hide-and-seek.
As they watch bats fly from their den, Baby Bear asks Mama where they go. “They are going to look for food,” she replies, and the pair sets off to do likewise. On successive spreads, Mama “sniffs the warm night air” and eats berries, catches a trout, drinks water, and munches dandelions, all the while playing the familiar game. Whenever “she looks around, / Baby Bear is nowhere in sight. / ‘Where, oh where, is Baby Bear?’ calls Mama.” Wolff hides Baby Bear in plain sight for children to spy. Each time he reveals himself, the cub identifies both an element of his woodland habitat and an English preposition to learn about. “Here I am, Mama…. / Inside the mossy log.” He also hides “up” in a birch tree, “behind” a waterfall, “between” some cattails, and “on top of” a boulder, silhouetted against the rising full moon. Mama’s gentle indulgence of her cub’s miniexplorations exemplifies confident parenting. With her firm “Come along now, Baby Bear,” the two retrace the evening’s feeding (and hiding) spots. (Wolff adds some fresh prepositions, too.) Wolff fully masters her media—linoleum prints luminously enhanced with watercolor. Children will pore over these pages, identifying creatures of woodland and meadow.
Twilit enchantment. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-9916-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
The message is wholehearted and positive, but the cloying execution doesn’t stand out.
A parent koala encourages its child to engage in every pursuit, and so do several other animals.
The British celebrity author, host of both children’s and adult TV programs, has a very positive message to spread, but there is nothing original in the lightweight text. The many animal characters pictured in diverting, fuzzy-edged illustrations engage in various activities as the text encourages them. “You can sing! If you love to sing, sing. / Shout at the top of your lungs, or whisper soft and sweet.” On verso, a frog quartet harmonizes, while across the gutter, a lion is shown with open mouth roaring as a small bird presumably whispers. Using rhyme and alliteration but without real poetic consistency, lines such as these appear: “You can share. You can care. You can create. You can learn. / You can wonder. You can wander.” The pink flamingo creating a fantastic dessert with pineapple rings is an appealing image, and children will enjoy seeing the cuddly baby koala throughout the book as other animals step up for their showcase. The fantasy-forest setting and its animals will keep small children engaged, but the sweetness comes with a significant aftertaste of treacle. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.5-by-19-inch double-page spreads viewed at 34.5% of actual size.)
The message is wholehearted and positive, but the cloying execution doesn’t stand out. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-18141-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
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