An older sister gives her younger brother parenting advice in Lerman’s resonant, jesting story. “They mean well, but sometimes they need a hand,” she offers—all mock earnest, which flies right over the brother’s head at first, although soon he understands the devil in these good deeds. Among these are getting them up early (a flashlight to a pried-open eye will do), sloshing the tub water onto the floor to help clean the bathroom, slipping his vegetables onto their plates for the parents’ health, making sure they really mean “yes,” though they say “no.” As she marches through the day, the sister comes out with some pretty good quips—“We could also ask them again about the puppy”—which will ring with the familiarity of church bells in readers’ ears (pleasingly so, despite their commonplace nature). The book’s comedy has an easy flow, and the four principals are all fine examples of the bug-eyed, pumpkin-head school, with clear line work and nostalgic colors. Clarke illustrates each recommended course of conduct as a set piece, nicely strung together as pearls of sisterly wisdom. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-525-47870-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2009
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
At her best, Rylant’s (The Ticky-Tacky Doll, below, etc.) sweetness and sentiment fills the heart; in this outing, however, sentimentality reigns and the end result is pretty gooey. Pandora keeps a lighthouse: her destiny is to protect ships at sea. She’s lonely, but loves her work. She rescues Seabold and heals his broken leg, and he stays on to mend his shipwrecked boat. This wouldn’t be so bad but Pandora’s a cat and Seabold a dog, although they are anthropomorphized to the max. Then the duo rescue three siblings—mice!—and make a family together, although Rylant is careful to note that Pandora and Seabold each have their own room. Choosing what you love, caring for others, making a family out of love, it is all very well, but this capsizes into silliness. Formatted to look like the start of a new series. Oh, dear. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-84880-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002
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