by The Jim Henson Company ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 11, 2020
Yank those plugs, everyone. Connect with family and friends instead.
Deny devices, turn off, tune out. That’s the unsubtle message in this picture book.
It’s raining. Indoors, Dot and her bestie, Hal, are playing a video game. Dad’s at his computer; Mom’s at her circuit board. Suddenly, the power goes out. Mom remembers it’s the National Day of Unplugging, announcing this means using “Nothing that runs on anything but our good old imaginations.” When the family descends to the basement searching for something to do, Scratch the dog finds a spinner game. Each of its five segments bears a simple image representing a task a player must perform when the arrow they spin lands on it. Creative play ensues, and Dot concludes that “Unplugging is fun!” The story will work equally well as a lapsit or a read-aloud to a group. It’s OK the exhortation’s obvious; kids will get that there’s life beyond the plugged-in kind. The colorful, cartoon illustrations are flat, but faces are expressive (even the dog’s). Dot, with strangely slate-gray hair, is garbed in yellow boots and a pink, polka-dot dress. She and her mom have pale pink skin; Dad’s skin is light tan; Hal is brown-skinned. The final page informs readers that the National Day of Unplugging is the second Friday in March and lists 50 “unplugged” activities. Readers/listeners should be encouraged to suggest and engage in other device-free pursuits.
Yank those plugs, everyone. Connect with family and friends instead. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0983-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick Entertainment
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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by Cari Best ; illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 23, 2013
A tempting invitation to turn any walk into an equally fruitful ramble, even if the treasures are gathered only by eye...
Family strolls down Rambling Road in every season turn into treasure hunts for 5-year-old Wendy.
And what treasures she finds! As other family members simply point out animals, a plane passing overhead and other sights (Abe the toddler is big on colors), everything else—from a wagon wheel to a broken kite, from loose letters and numbers to a pencil that works and a clock that doesn’t—goes in her collecting bag. The trash and litter are scrupulously brought to the dump, but what will she do with all the rest? When winter snows bring a (temporary) stop to outdoor walks, she assembles a “Rambling Road” in her room, inviting her appreciative clan in for a visit. Muted colors and smiling, softly rounded figures add cozy notes to Brooker’s paint-and–photo-collage illustrations. Viewers who linger over each scene will be rewarded with small birds, flowers and other background details, plus all sorts of enticing found objects.
A tempting invitation to turn any walk into an equally fruitful ramble, even if the treasures are gathered only by eye rather than by hand. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: April 23, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4778-1648-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Amazon Children's Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2013
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by Lis Jones & illustrated by Jim Coplestone ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2010
A toy rabbit has an unexpected forest adventure. Little girl Ruby is scared of the woods, but Daddy reassures her that he'll keep her safe. Snugly bundled up and with stuffed bunny Rabby riding in her hood, Ruby goes through the gate to the woods, all golden leaves, with Daddy. Ruby is frightened when she sees a fox chasing rabbits, but Daddy explains that foxes need to catch rabbits for food. Ruby and Daddy are so busy talking that they don't see that Rabby has been snagged out of the hood and dangles from a branch. Before long, Foxy is after the toy (who wears a hooded coat that matches Ruby's), but, when he catches up to Rabby, something surprising happens. Coplestone’s lovely double-page watercolor spreads provide a wordless subtext in which Foxy and Rabby’s interaction is overdubbed by Daddy and Ruby's oblivious conversation, to sweetly humorous effect. Jones's book begins as a traditional "message" story but delights with a fantasy twist and a subtler bit of wisdom. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-84507-956-7
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2010
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