An enjoyable bedtime story that demands to be heard.
An industrious lamp in the shape of a bird fixes all things that go bump in the night.
At bedtime, a young boy yawns, tosses, and turns, then drifts off to blissful sleep. Soon, noises throughout the supposedly quiet house begin to sound, and the boy’s bedside lamp-bird can’t resist investigating. With a “tip, tap, click, click,” it springs down the hall on ostrichlike legs, its conical beak poised for action. How convenient that its torso contains a light bulb to illuminate the way! It hears “drip, drip, drop, drop” from the bathroom and dutifully cranks the bathtub faucet shut, much to the bath toys’ relief. More noises follow, including sneezes, creaks, flaps, and rustles, which means more things to fix. The sweetest fix of all comes when a stuffed animal becomes separated from his boy. In his first picture book as both writer and illustrator, Ebbeler (The Only Alex Addleston in All These Mountains, 2014, etc.) embeds simple, audible text sparingly within the illustrations, to the fullest effect. No two reads will be the same, as he leaves room for lively interpretations. Although the text-sounds aren’t unique, the lamp-bird is. Reminiscent of a vintage drinking-bird toy, this late-night fixer-upper will keep readers and listeners guessing whether it’s part pelican, ostrich, chicken, or something of their own creation.
An enjoyable bedtime story that demands to be heard. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3295-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together.
A clueless duckling tries to make a new friend.
He is confused by this peculiar-looking duck, who has a long tail, doesn’t waddle and likes to be alone. No matter how explicitly the creature denies he is a duck and announces that he is a cat, the duckling refuses to acknowledge the facts. When this creature expresses complete lack of interest in playing puddle stomp, the little ducking goes off and plays on his own. But the cat is not without remorse for rejecting an offered friendship. Of course it all ends happily, with the two new friends enjoying each other’s company. Bramsen employs brief sentences and the simplest of rhymes to tell this slight tale. The two heroes are meticulously drawn with endearing, expressive faces and body language, and their feathers and fur appear textured and touchable. Even the detailed tree bark and grass seem three-dimensional. There are single- and double-page spreads, panels surrounded by white space and circular and oval frames, all in a variety of eye-pleasing juxtapositions. While the initial appeal is solidly visual, young readers will get the gentle message that friendship is not something to take for granted but is to be embraced with open arms—or paws and webbed feet.
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-86990-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
Let these crayons go back into their box.
The Crayons return to celebrate Easter.
Six crayons (Red, Orange, Yellow, Esteban, who is green and wears a yellow cape, White, and Blue) each take a shape and scribble designs on it. Purple, perplexed and almost angry, keeps asking why no one is creating an egg, but the six friends have a great idea. They take the circle decorated with red shapes, the square adorned with orange squiggles “the color of the sun,” the triangle with yellow designs, also “the color of the sun” (a bit repetitious), a rectangle with green wavy lines, a white star, about which Purple remarks: “DID you even color it?” and a rhombus covered with blue markings and slap the shapes onto a big, light-brown egg. Then the conversation turns to hiding the large object in plain sight. The joke doesn’t really work, the shapes are not clear enough for a concept book, and though colors are delineated, it’s not a very original color book. There’s a bit of clever repartee. When Purple observe that Esteban’s green rectangle isn’t an egg, Esteban responds, “No, but MY GOSH LOOK how magnificent it is!” Still, that won’t save this lackluster book, which barely scratches the surface of Easter, whether secular or religious. The multimedia illustrations, done in the same style as the other series entries, are always fun, but perhaps it’s time to retire these anthropomorphic coloring implements. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Let these crayons go back into their box. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-62105-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
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