Coo-coo storytime fun.
If you give a coo a breadcrumb....
While not a cumulative story like Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond’s picture book about a mouse and a cookie, Stutzman and Fox’s latest collaboration does function as a silly cautionary tale of sorts: When the young protagonist of color fails to heed the text’s advice and gives a coo a breadcrumb, all heck breaks loose. The titular “coos” are pigeons, and like Mo Willems’ bird, they have one-track minds. Single-mindedly intent on getting ever more crumbs after the depicted child feeds just one coo, a whole flock follows the increasingly alarmed protagonist “through the park, down the street, all the way HOME.” This kid just can’t shake those birds! Avian havoc ensues in the clean-lined, stylized cartoons and then heightens as, “to thank you for feeding them, the coos will leave poos.” If it’s true that being pooped on by a bird brings good luck, Stutzman and Fox’s protagonist accrues some serious great fortune in the next spreads, which will undoubtedly provoke laughter among readers observing the bright white splotches that dot the pages like a most unappetizing sprinkling of popcorn. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em ends up being the poor, splattered child’s tactic, until a final return visit to the park reveals someone who’s been missing the coos ever since they left.
Coo-coo storytime fun. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-30318-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The book is available in just about every format--but this is the perfect one.
It's hard to believe that a pop-up wasn't the creators' original intention, so seamlessly do moveable parts dovetail into this modern classic's storyline.
In contrast to the tale's 1998 pop -up version, the figures here move on every page, and with an unusually graceful naturalism to boot. From pulling down Big Nutbrown Hare's ears on the opening spread to make sure he's listening to drowsily turning his head to accept a final good-night kiss in a multi-leveled pull-down tableau at the close, all of Little Nutbrown Hare's hops, stretches and small gestures serve the poetically spare text—as do Big Nutbrown's wider, higher responses to his charge's challenges. As readers turn a flap to read Big Nutbrown's "But I love you this much," his arms extend to demonstrate. The emotional connection between the two hares is clearer than ever in Jeram's peaceful, restrained outdoor scenes, which are slightly larger than those in the trade edition, and the closing scene is made even more intimate by hiding the closing line ("I love you right up to the moon—and back") until an inconspicuous flap is opened up.
The book is available in just about every format--but this is the perfect one. (Pop-up picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5378-1
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
Another Brett winner to add to the shelf.
A classic Russian tale gets Brett’s signature artwork and a twist ending.
When Badger Girl finds a giant turnip in the vegetable patch, she immediately starts thinking of all the tasty things that could be made with a turnip that size. But she can’t pull it out, not even with the assistance of Badger Boy, Mother Badger, or Father Badger, each new character heralded in the recto vignette on the previous page. Passing friends—Hedgie, Mr. Ram, and Vanya, the horse—join in, one by one, as the snowflakes signaling winter’s arrival start to fall, but even all pulling together, they can’t manage it. A rooster who had a narrow escape from a cooking pot happens by. Meanwhile, a mother bear and two cubs, whom observant readers have been watching in the vignettes on the versos, climb into their winter den to hibernate only to find a giant turnip in their bed. Well, their pushing and Rooster’s pulling coincide to pop the turnip out, and it’s turnip pancakes for those aboveground, sleep for the bears, and an honorary home for Rooster. Brett brings the Russian countryside setting to life. Her anthropomorphized animals wear clothing in shades of blues, white, and reds, and the patterns are beautiful. The wooden fences and house are elaborately carved, and Brett’s borders are highly detailed, many times looking like carved wood.
Another Brett winner to add to the shelf. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-3991-7070-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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