Neatly encapsulates the three-ring circus that is a little tyke’s world and gives children an opportunity to practice all...
Richard Scarry has some competition in this effort, which follows a toddler-age bunny and his mother around town on their errands.
Filled with verbs that end in –ing, the rhythmic verses form a nice cadence and challenge readers to spot the characters that are performing each action. “Pancakes flipping. / Cutting, clipping. / Tossing, fetching, / bending, stretching. // Brushing, shaving. / Good-bye waving— / my town in the morn.” The bunny, usually in his pram, and his mother are easy to spot on each page as they watch the kids in the schoolyard, stare pop-eyed at the rescue vehicles converging to put out a burning sausage, mail a letter, visit a hospital patient, read a book outside the library and take the bus, among other things. Once they get home, in a scene reminiscent of Kevin Lewis and Daniel Kirk’s Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo (1999), the living room floor displays a very familiar scene. The acrylic illustrations are bright and busy, full of details to spot, animals to identify and things to find and count. Similar animal characters to Timmers’ Who is Driving? (2007) populate this outing, their huge eyes dominating their giant heads, while tiny legs protrude from below stylish outfits, all adding to their charming appeal.
Neatly encapsulates the three-ring circus that is a little tyke’s world and gives children an opportunity to practice all kinds of skills. (Picture book. 1-5)Pub Date: March 5, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-59990-785-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Absolutely enchanting.
A child wakes in the middle of the night and embarks on a quiet adventure.
When little Hannah realizes it’s still dark, she decides to tiptoe downstairs with her trustworthy cat, Shiro. Upon realizing all are asleep, the charming child takes small liberties: feeding the cat milk, eating cherries from the fridge and carefully playing with her sister’s toys. Sakai’s evocative illustrations envelop readers in the stillness and silence of a hushed home. Done in paint and colored pencil, they perfectly capture a child’s innocent point of view. Hannah is incredibly appealing as she squats next to Shiro, gazes up at the moon and giggles that her sister—just in the next bed—does not notice that Hannah is borrowing her toys. Each pose is perfection; parents will achingly recognize a magical time in their own children’s development, and young readers will recognize themselves in the careful explorer. The simple and elegant artwork provides a rich environment for the text, whose translation is offered with a New Zealand accent. As dawn breaks, Hannah spots the “prettiest dove she’d ever seen” outside her window. Trusting in the hope and wonder of a light-filled, new day, Hannah finally falls asleep, curled up next to Shiro on the edge of her sister’s bed.
Absolutely enchanting. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-877579-54-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
Sweet, though oddly mixed of message.
Simple line drawings with watercolor accompany this gentle tale of how young Jamie’s awareness of the life cycle of a baby seal lying on the beach near the boy’s home empowers him to turn back ignorant, potentially harmful tourists.
The book begins poetically: “It came in the night / when the world was asleep, / that strange white stone on the beach.” Jamie discovers that the “stone” is actually a baby seal, and for days, he greets the pup morning and evening, knowing that the “wee seal’s mum” cares for her baby each night. But the pup attracts the wrong kind of attention. An amusing double-page spread shows an aerial view of tourists leaning in too closely over the bemused seal, after which Jamie rushes in with a sign that proclaims, “the seal has a Mum. Leeve alon plees. Jamie.” Jamie’s diligence gives the seal time to shed its baby fur and grow, following its mother’s song into the sea when it has reached proper maturity. Ironically, Jamie’s backyard beach sports the same litter daily, including one of the most reviled human killers of wildlife: a balloon. The text further acknowledges human waste without censure when the pup has to “rock all the way round a broken creel” as it returns to sea. This presents a potent disconnect in a boy (and a book) otherwise environmentally minded.
Sweet, though oddly mixed of message. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-7825-0020-9
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Floris
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
