Dewey (Paisano, the Roadrunner, 2001, etc.) spins a quiet tale describing the unusually long life of a particular orb spider that lays her eggs in the window of an adobe house. An expectant mother observes the spider during the last months of her pregnancy, and in first-person narrative, she compares her time of waiting and care for her newborn daughter with the mother spider’s behavior. The spider survives through an extra winter and finally dies in the spring shortly after her sac opens, releasing “a cloud of spiderlings drifting on the breeze.” Because “her young grew up and built egg sacs of their own,” the narrator and her husband and daughter are reminded of the long-lived spider whenever they see orb weavers at work. Cassels (Earthmates, 2000, etc.) provides competent close-up illustrations of the spider, tender views of the mother and baby, and the effective repeated device of the spider’s home in an arched window. The spider life cycle is commonly studied in the early elementary grades, and this examination of an orb spider’s life cycle with detailed illustrations of each stage will serve for related literature as well as for scientific reference. An author’s note provides an additional page of facts about spiders and their behavior. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8027-8700-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2002
Pfister’s winking do-gooder returns; Rainbow Fish and his pals find their krill-eating grounds mooched upon by a huge blue whale. The whale appears to mean no harm, and when the “fish with the ragged fins” calls him a “wicked whale,” his feelings are hurt. Accordingly, he menaces the school until Rainbow Fish enters into peace talks. Thereupon the scales are smoothed, the blowholes quieted, and the sea creatures return to a state of bliss: “It was a wonderful life.” It’s almost painfully formulaic, but some children will never get enough of Rainbow Fish, who has now been promoted to ambassador of peace of the pelagic domain. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-7358-1009-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Grab your funny bone—Shannon (The Shark God, 2001, etc.) rides again! Rather his Duck does, when one day on the farm, he gets a wild idea that he can ride a bike. After the first wobbles, Duck sails past Cow, Sheep, Dog, Cat, Horse, Chicken, Goat, Pig, and Mouse. The oversized animals’ reactions range from “How silly” to “Show-off” to “Wish I could ride!” Then a bunch of kids come riding down the farm road and park their bikes beside the house and go inside. The next double spread shows the animals staring ahead with gleeful expressions, like a light bulb lighting up—and readers will know immediately what comes next. The scene of all the animals gaily pedaling bikes is hilarious. And when they put them back, no one knows that 11 farm animals had ever been on a bike. Brightly colored illustrations display a front row, big-screen point of view with bits of images running off the edges of the spread. The in-your-face perspective of the action punctuates the comedy and the page design is ingenious. Even the end page humorously poses the next challenge for Duck—a tractor. The body language of Duck on the bike looks nothing but plausible. A “quackerjack” of a terrific escapade. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-439-05023-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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