There’s nourishment to be found here, but it doesn’t add up to a fully rounded meal.
Through the seasons, Poppy the alpaca and her mates explore the fields and gardens of Moonrise Farm, introduced in earlier volumes of the series Sweet Pea & Friends.
Other farm animals and an occasional human (the white family of the co-creators) appear, but the visual emphasis is on the alpacas, unusual enough to invite curiosity despite the lack of a strong storyline. In every double-page, full-bleed spread, Poppy finds fresh, healthy new foods to eat as the seasons change, encouraging children to do the same. Names of fruits, vegetables, and herbs are sprinkled through the text, but young readers may not be able to easily match names with specific items in the photos. One cold evening, Poppy’s mother shows her the harvest moon and the Canada geese migrating south. She says: “Soon, everything on the farm will rest until spring.” After eating freely through spring and summer, Poppy worries that there will be nothing left, but her mother shows her the barn. The more experienced alpaca tells her: “Farmer John and Farmer Jennifer have stored food from the gardens for us.” The photo montages, ethereal and out of focus at times, are so full of flora and fauna to look at that children will want to return to the pictures, but the overlong, static text fails to enchant.
There’s nourishment to be found here, but it doesn’t add up to a fully rounded meal. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: July 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-41160-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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