Like puffy clouds with smiling faces and sticklike legs, sheep gambol merrily upon sunlit green hills—all but Marvin, that is, who resents being slightly smaller and less athletic than average. So, he starts to eat: grass, trees, and hills at first, then on to all of Ireland, and finally the entire world. Ultimately, huge but lonely, he vomits it all back up (“BAAAAA!”) and rejoins his flock, now content with his lot. Theobald compensates, at least in part, for the unoriginal plot (see Henrik Drescher’s Boy Who Ate Around, 1994) and flimsy psychology with simply drawn, tongue-in-cheek scenes replete with irresistibly cuddlesome woolly baa-baas in lively colors on full-bleed, double-paged spreads. The art carries the humor—and the day. So call this a promising debut, with an underdeveloped storyline. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7475-5631-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
There are 17 kinds of penguins in the Southern Hemisphere, and Gibbons (The Art Box, p. 1034, etc.) introduces them all in this appealing beginning science title. She describes their general life cycle, from the courtship and nest-building of the parents to the hatching of the young, their growth, and adulthood. The handsome illustrations in watercolor and ink are framed with icy blue and white borders. Awkward birds waddle on the glaciers, huddle against subzero temperatures, and glide in frigid waters; downy chicks peer from between their parents’ feet while lumpish fuzzy adolescent penguins wait for their parents to return with food. Gibbons also describes the threat to penguins from pollution, hunting, and tourists. A handsome, sensibly simple title on a popular creature. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1998
ISBN: 0-8234-1388-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1998
The pug staring up mournfully from the cover looks and is anything but unlovable, as Yaccarino (New Pet, p. 1304, etc.) demonstrates in this unvarnished friendship story. The cat and other household pets—and the other dogs in the neighborhood—all sneer at Alfred’s ugly mug and stubby legs. Except for Rex, a very new neighbor unseen on the other side of a high, solid fence. But Alfred has told him that he’s a golden retriever, which results in some anxious moments when Alex announces that he’s digging under the fence. Yaccarino keeps the pictures as simple as the story, using bright colors and large, smoothly curved shapes, incorporating minimal background detail and exaggerating certain features, notably Alfred’s huge, shiny button eyes. As it turns out, Rex’s eyes make a matching pair, for he too is a pug, and easily forgives Alfred his fib—and with warm companionship, he ensures that “Alfred never felt unlovable again.” A cozy, if routine, confidence-builder. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8050-6321-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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