by Joan Aiken illustrated by Quentin Blake ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 10, 1974
A deliberately farfetched uproar about the consequences of Mortimer the raven's coming home one night with the taxi-driving father of little Arabel Jones. Mortimer, who croaks "Nevermore" at appropriate intervals, eats stairs and traffic lights and the escalator at the tube station. He is kidnapped (or "flyjacked") by two masked robbers who are terrorizing the town, but traps the pair later in the same tube station's lift. He roller-skates through the-multi-story car park, gets stuck in Auntie Brenda's chimney and costs Mrs. Jones two jobs, but is — inexplicably — so clear to Arabel who pulls him about in her little red wagon that only his comforting presence saves her from death. The scenes of parental hair tearing and throat clutching build up to an epidemic of hysteria when Mr. and Mrs. Jones go off to the Furriers' Freewheeling Ball, Arabel and Mortimer and babysitter Chris Cross step out to the milk machine (which so amuses the raven that Arabel continues to pour change — won from the slot machine — into other machines for gumdrops, cigarettes, photographs, you name it), and their absence from home sets the Joneses, their fellow revelers and the fire and police departments running in circles to a confusion of rumors about deadly gas, poisoned cheese and a gang of gorillas from Swanee Arabia. There is enough clutching for hilarity here that some of this is bound to be funny, but the family's indulgence of the tiresome bird is hard to credit and their distraction is too often just mechanically madcap.
Pub Date: May 10, 1974
ISBN: 0152060944
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1974
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More by Alice Harman
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by Alice Harman ; illustrated by Quentin Blake
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developed by Roald Dahl ; illustrated by Quentin Blake
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developed by Roald Dahl ; illustrated by Quentin Blake
by Rose Rossner ; illustrated by Jessica Gibson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 2, 2021
<p>Perfectly fine but nothing new.</p>
Caregiver-child love abounds in this rhyming board book full of animal puns.
One thing’s for certain, there’s plenty of sweet (and groanworthy) sentiments in this book. Rossner writes, “Giving HOGS and kisses / sends me to the moon!” and, “I’m such a lucky DUCK. / You really QUACK me up!” The book progresses entirely in this fashion, with a new animal pair and pun with each page turn. It reads well as a book for a caregiver to share with a lap-sitting child. On that mark, it succeeds in providing plenty of opportunities for giggles and snuggles. That said, at times the meter is forced, making the cadence a bit stilted, and the cuddles/bubbles rhyme is a dubious one. This is an issue for a book that will almost solely be read aloud. Gibson’s illustrations are very charming; the animals and insects with big eyes and expressive faces have high appeal. The warmth of the animals’ embraces and cuddles translates well from the page, inviting the same snuggles from readers. Decorated eggs appear on each page, and the bunny pair from the cover features prominently. Overall, the concept and message of the book are high interest and age-appropriate, but it doesn’t stand out from the very crowded shelf of “I love you, little one!” books similar to it.
<p>Perfectly fine but nothing new.</p> (Board book. 6 mos.-2)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-2343-8
Page Count: 25
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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More by Rose Rossner
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by Rose Rossner ; illustrated by Morgan Huff
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by Rose Rossner ; illustrated by Aleksandra Szmidt
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by Rose Rossner & Brooke Backsen ; illustrated by AndoTwin
by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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