A reassuring tale for young travelers, with a special appeal for dog lovers.
A puppy takes an airplane trip to meet her new family in this first installment of a children’s series.
With her soft brown fur, floppy ears, and big paws, Lindie Lou is an adorable puppy, one of five in a litter. All are well taken care of in St. Louis by their Caucasian caretakers, Joe and Sherry, who set up a cozy Puppy Playground for them in the (unused) garage with blankets, toys, and a large doggy bed. Playtime, naps, and a few escapades keep Lindie Lou busy, such as a puppy play date at the City Museum with children from a homeless shelter who aren’t allowed to have pets. At 8 weeks old, the puppies are eligible for adoption and Joe and Sherry would love to keep Lindie Lou. But she’s been promised to Sherry’s sister, Kate, and “a promise is a promise.” Finally, it’s time for Lindie Lou’s biggest adventure yet, a flight to “Emerald City” (Seattle). A fellow canine traveler helps explain the scary parts, reassuring Lindie Lou, telling her all about her new home, and getting her excited about flying in an airplane: “I’ve been on many amazing journeys and you will too. This is only the beginning.” Additional material in the book, aimed at kids ages 4 to 8, includes a quiz, fun facts, and a St. Louis calendar of events. Bender (Harvest Time, 2018, etc.) appeals to young canine lovers by bringing them into Lindie Lou’s point of view. The writing can be bland, but in describing the puppy’s wide-eyed encounters with new places, the volume deftly shows how her anxieties often parallel those of children experiencing the unfamiliar. Lindie Lou learns to overcome her fears through a series of steps that kids, too, can follow: “Stop, look around, and listen. Think about what you can do. Do something if you need to. If nothing can be done, stay calm and think of something good.” The images by debut illustrator Willows are bright and cartoonlike in depicting animals, but helpfully realistic in showing such unfamiliar details as the airport’s luggage carousel.
A reassuring tale for young travelers, with a special appeal for dog lovers.Pub Date: July 31, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-943493-24-1
Page Count: 168
Publisher: Pina Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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