A young rider imagines the horses she’ll have when she grows up in this charming equestrian alphabet. To introduce each letter, Haas and Apple (Runaway Radish, not reviewed) highlight different horse breeds and horse-related words. The opening spread, for example, shows “Spotted Appaloosas”—with the “A” highlighted in bold—next to “Arabian steeds.” Later, the girl dreams that “[Her] Lippizans will perform lively leaps, the lightest of lengthenings, lovely levades.” For the letter “X,” Haas recalls the Greek general Xenophon, “who wrote the first text about horses.” Says the narrator, “I’ll examine it often for expert advice.” Rendered in colored pencils, and defined by soft yet studied strokes, Apple’s illustrations portray the animals’ strength and beauty. With centerpiece sketches often flanked by smaller drawings, there is much to admire: a double-page spread for “Q” and “R” shows the narrator touching a blue ribbon to the neck of her “Quarter horse”; seven smaller drawings show them “barrel racing,” “reining” and “calf roping” in a rodeo. Haas’s “More About Horses” section provides detail, highlighting in bold print the breeds and terminology mentioned in the story. While sure to entice horse lovers, Haas and Apple’s offering will also appeal to youngsters as they explore unfamiliar territory in a well-worn format. A fitting addition to the creator’s equine oeuvre; a fine supplement to the ABC canon. (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-688-17880-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2001
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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