London (Where's Home?, p. 858, etc.) has charmingly adapted a nursery favorite. Using the rhyme scheme of the original, London created a series of appealing vignettes: ``I see the flowers/and the flowers see me./Hello flowers,/are you smiling for me?'' Fiore's art is the real star here, vivid, evocative, and well painted. Taking the verses as a starting point for his paintings, and with pleasing circularity, Fiore follows a young boy with a bright red backpack and equally red kite through a day brimming with activity in a wide variety of settings: a stroll along a quiet morning street, kite-flying on a windy shore, stepping across rocks in a clear brook, hiking through majestic gold-orange mountains, soaring on a swing under a deep green sheltering tree, biking through fields bright with sunflowers, solitary canoeing on a lake at luminous sunset, and home again at twilight. Some eagle-eyed readers will want to know where the boy—who leaves and returns home on foot—gets the bike, or why the kite vanishes for several spreads. Nevertheless, a lovely mood piece for sharing. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-670-85918-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A gentle, poetic good-night book, with parents and children of various ethnic groups—plus 16 different, slightly anthropomorphic animals—settling down to sleep. ``Tired Chinese golden monkeys huddle and cuddle for comfort. They gather together wrapping their arms around each other, and stay that way for a long sleepy-time hug.'' In her charming illustrations, Owens (The Caribou Alphabet, 1988) uses blue, green, and tan, night washed and fluid, to enhance the text's warm, relaxed tone. A soothing, entrancing lullaby, with some intriguing (if undocumented) animal facts. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-8050-1710-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
On his first day at the Academy for Boys and Ghouls, Little Dracula's initial hesitancy dissolves after he meets the horrible creatures in his class, takes simple lessons in geography (``New Vampshire''), nature study (the difference between garlic and peasants is that garlic is ``bad to bite''), and plays a game of hearts (not with cards) at Playtime. After a peaceful nap, Igor arrives to take him home in the slave-powered family carriage. Wright's busy cartoon illustrations will have younger readers— and their parents—howling (with glee) as they watch the green- skinned ``ghoulboy'' counting werewolves to get to sleep, looking anxiously at his rather animated lunch, and being put to bed the next morning by his doting parents. A First-Day-of-School with a difference. Also available: Little Dracula at the Seashore; both were originally published in Britain in 1987. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 5, 1992
ISBN: 1-56402-027-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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