This simple story opens the door to exploration of sophisticated concepts.
Bear, Elephant, and Chicken set out to find out where the birds go in winter.
Although it is almost time for Bear to go to sleep for the cold season (the word hibernation is not used in this book for very young children), he becomes curious when he sees birds flying in a V. His friend Elephant explains, “They are flying to a warm place for the winter.” Bear gets the notion that he might enjoy such a place and convinces his friends (the trio from Goodbye, Grandpa, 2018) to accompany him. They travel through a variety of disparate landscapes, but Bear doesn’t feel the sleepiness that should be naturally overtaking him. Finally, just when they are nearing the “warm place,” Bear falls asleep. When his friends try to wake him, he starts weeping and explains that he wants to return home: “Bears don’t go to warm places in the winter. Bears sleep in the winter.” Of course, his friends help him immediately thanks to a hot air balloon that magically appears. The cartoon animals and the spare, matte backgrounds with just a hint of detail complement this simple story with its beginning look at scientific concepts, just enough to start young children wondering about bears and birds and their seasonal habits. The animals’ adventures may also jump-start ideas about travel and geography. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.2-by-19.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 28.9% of actual size.)
This simple story opens the door to exploration of sophisticated concepts. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-60537-566-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Instills a sense of well-being in youngsters while encouraging them to explore the natural world.
This reassuring picture book exemplifies how parents throughout the animal kingdom make homes for their offspring.
The narrative is written from the point of view of a parent talking to their child: “If you were a beaver, I would gnaw on trees with my teeth to build a cozy lodge for us to sleep in during the day.” Text appears in big, easy-to-read type, with the name of the creature in boldface. Additional facts about the animal appear in a smaller font, such as: “Beavers have transparent eyelids to help them see under water.” The gathering of land, air, and water animals includes a raven, a flying squirrel, and a sea lion. “Home” might be a nest, a den, or a burrow. One example, of a blue whale who has homes in the north and south (ocean is implied), will help children stretch the concept into feeling at home in the larger world. Illustrations of the habitats have an inviting luminosity. Mature and baby animals are realistically depicted, although facial features appear to have been somewhat softened, perhaps to appeal to young readers. The book ends with the comforting scene of a human parent and child silhouetted in the welcoming lights of the house they approach: “Wherever you may be, you will always have a home with me.”
Instills a sense of well-being in youngsters while encouraging them to explore the natural world. (Informational picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63217-224-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Watching unlikely friends finally be as “happy as two someones can be” feels like being enveloped in your very own hug.
What to do when you’re a prickly animal hankering for a hug? Why, find another misfit animal also searching for an embrace!
Sweet but “tricky to hug” little Hedgehog is down in the dumps. Wandering the forest, Hedgehog begs different animals for hugs, but each rejects them. Readers will giggle at their panicked excuses—an evasive squirrel must suddenly count its three measly acorns; a magpie begins a drawn-out song—but will also be indignant on poor hedgehog’s behalf. Hedgehog has the appealingly pink-cheeked softness typical of Dunbar’s art, and the gentle watercolors are nonthreatening, though she also captures the animals’ genuine concern about being poked. A wise owl counsels the dejected hedgehog that while the prickles may frighten some, “there’s someone for everyone.” That’s when Hedgehog spots a similarly lonely tortoise, rejected due to its “very hard” shell but perfectly matched for a spiky new friend. They race toward each other until the glorious meeting, marked with swoony peach swirls and overjoyed grins. At this point, readers flip the book to hear the same gloomy tale from the tortoise’s perspective until it again culminates in that joyous hug, a book turn that’s made a pleasure with thick creamy paper and solid binding.
Watching unlikely friends finally be as “happy as two someones can be” feels like being enveloped in your very own hug. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-571-34875-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
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