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 simply written nonfiction book for young children might have served the authors’ issue-driven purpose better than this...
Noah’s menagerie of stuffed toys turn into real animals in a dream scene that takes the child from the bedroom to various places around the world.
Traveling along with the bed to a North American forest, the Andes, and the Arctic, the Asian-American child meets what appear to be the real counterparts of the stuffed animals seen in the frame story, who inform the child and readers of the importance of their fur. The dialogue-only text is sometimes awkward and stilted. Birchy, the beaver, says: “I can hold my breath for fifteen minutes, not to mention having a completely waterproof and cold-proof fur suit. Chew on that...!” There is a page (including websites) for parents and other adults to aid them in speaking about the issue of the fur trade. Adults supporting this cause will want to share this book with young children. Those who do not share this opinion may have little interest in such a book, although the main text concentrates on factual information about animals used in fur coats, including the mink, the beaver, the chinchilla, the rabbit, and the fox, and not on the fur trade itself. The watercolors showing Noah surrounded by his toys and then by the animals come to life are attractive, and child readers will be interested in the fantasy of the toys becoming real—so interested, in fact, that they may be disappointed by the purpose-driven exchanges.
A simply written nonfiction book for young children might have served the authors’ issue-driven purpose better than this vehicle. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-940719-29-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Gryphon Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
Sweet, uneven, and slight
A dog finds a friend in an unlikely place. Can a dog and a whale be friends?
This dog likes the ocean, swimming, sailing his boat, and bobbing with the jellyfish. His dog friends like to jam and make music—but not to swim. One day he meets a whale. Though they share a love of the ocean, it’s not easy to be friends when he’s up and she’s down, and he can’t hold his breath. Back on land, he dreams, he draws, and he has an idea. He’s going to learn to scuba dive. He studies, he practices, he passes the test, and he gets his gear. Then it’s off to play with his friend. But not for long, as the whale needs to find food. While she’s gone, the dog prepares a hello surprise. He teaches his fellow dogs the whale’s song and makes a seaweed garland. After what seems like a very long wait, the whale eventually returns. Only it looks like she was gone for much more than food, as she returns with a baby! This uneven friendship story unfolds in short, choppy sentences that play mildly with internal rhyme and rhythm. Golden’s playful mixed-media illustrations (watercolors, pastels, and colored pencil) use a soft color palette nicely in tune with the story. Readers can’t help wondering, though, at what feels like a real imbalance in the protagonists’ friendship.
Sweet, uneven, and slight . (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0143-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
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