Dark and delicious.
A fractured fable about sharing.
A sloth and a lemur find a gorgeous cake: three-tiered, pink-frosted, topped by a single orange-and-black–striped candle. The two decide to throw a party, but whom to invite? Sloth tries making suggestions, but Lemur shoots them all down: They’re afraid that Tiger will eat the cake and then them; it’s too much work to serve tiny pieces to an entire anthill; Chameleon is nowhere to be found; and “Sugar does things” to Tortoise, shown singing into a microphone clad in a top hat and with an inflatable pool toy around his waist. The two animals decide that their only choice is to eat the entire cake themselves. When the rightful baker and birthday-cat, Tiger, sees what they’ve done, she ominously tells them that she “can still get it back.” There’s shades of Jon Klassen’s Hat trilogy here as well as Lucy Ruth Cummins’ A Hungry Lion (2016), and this is a worthy addition to the trend of picture books showing the more ominous consequences of one’s actions in an anthropomorphized animal kingdom. The effective use of background color, subtle expressions, gravity, and pacing make this a winning choice for storytime, so long as the audience can handle the implications of the ending. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 19.6% of actual size.)
Dark and delicious. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-38030-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient.
How do you make a new friend when an old one moves away?
Buddy (from Sorry, Grown-Ups, You Can’t Go to School, 2019, etc.) is feeling lonely. His best friend just moved across town. To make matters worse, there is a field trip coming up, and Buddy needs a bus partner. His sister, Lady, has some helpful advice for making a new pal: “You just need to find something you have in common.” Buddy loves the game Robo Chargers and karate. Surely there is someone else who does, too! Unfortunately, there isn’t. However, when a new student arrives (one day later) and asks everyone to call her Sunny instead of Alison, Buddy gets excited. No one uses his given name, either; they just call him Buddy. He secretly whispers his “real, official name” to Sunny at lunch—an indication that a true friendship is being formed. The rest of the story plods merrily along, all pieces falling exactly into place (she even likes Robo Chargers!), accompanied by Bowers’ digital art, a mix of spot art and full-bleed illustrations. Friendship-building can be an emotionally charged event in a child’s life—young readers will certainly see themselves in Buddy’s plight—but, alas, there is not much storytelling magic to be found. Buddy and his family are White, Sunny and Mr. Teacher are Black, and Buddy’s other classmates are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-30709-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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