Count them, play with them, and knit them into one wonderful blanket.
A happy array of wooly creatures tries to help bring about a good night’s sleep.
A wide-awake girl decides to count sheep in order to fall asleep. She closes her eyes and counts by ones up to 10, all fluffy white and smiling—and in her bedroom. The 10 have great fun there but are not successful at sending Clarissa to sleep, so they suggest counting alpacas by twos. Clarissa welcomes 20 more colorful creatures but is still wide awake. Twenty striped and polka-dot llamas, counted by fives, follow. Fifty patterned yaks, counted by 10s, join the menagerie. This is just too much bedtime, bedroom mayhem for the tired girl, so she does what a good knitter would do. She starts unwinding wool from the 100 frolicking beasts until she has wound up a great big, enormous ball of very colorful yarn and knits herself a lovely afghan. Children can count along, add the numbers, and then subtract them in this enjoyably crafty bedtime tale. The pen-and–digital ink drawings feature one black-haired, white Clarissa and a multitude of appealing and colorful critters, beloved by all knitters.
Count them, play with them, and knit them into one wonderful blanket. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3701-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Between its autumn and field-trip themes and the fact that not many books start countdowns from 20, this may find its way to...
A class visits the pumpkin patch, giving readers a chance to count down from 20.
At the farm, Farmer Mixenmatch gives them the tour, which includes a petting zoo, an educational area, a corn maze and a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. Holub’s text cleverly though not always successfully rhymes each child’s name within the line: “ ‘Eighteen kids get on our bus,’ says Russ. / ‘But someone’s late,’ says Kate. / ‘Wait for me!’ calls Kiri.” Pumpkins at the tops of pages contain the numerals that match the text, allowing readers to pair them with the orange-colored, spelled-out numbers. Some of the objects proffered to count are a bit of a stretch—“Guess sixteen things we’ll see,” count 14 cars that arrived at the farm before the bus—but Smith’s artwork keeps things easy to count, except for a challenging page that asks readers to search for 17 orange items (answers are at the bottom, upside down). Strangely, Holub includes one page with nothing to count—a sign marks “15 Pumpkin Street.” Charming, multicultural round-faced characters and lots of detail encourage readers to go back through the book scouring pages for the 16 things the kids guessed they might see. Endpapers featuring a smattering of pumpkin facts round out the text.
Between its autumn and field-trip themes and the fact that not many books start countdowns from 20, this may find its way to many library shelves. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8075-6660-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Somewhat cerebral but brimming with visual charm—and likely to spark ideas in the artistically minded.
U said it!
The diminutive lowercase letters attending Ms. Bracket’s School for Little Letters, located in New York City, embark on a “Find Yourself Field Trip” and observe letters everywhere—on signs, on T-shirts, and more. When personable U, the story’s protagonist, talks to a letter in a book at the New York Public Library, she realizes how powerful and important letters and words are; a discussion with a letter on a sculpture spelling out the word hope inspires optimism. When it’s her turn to share her field-trip experiences, U recaps her conversations and the lessons learned, namely, be yourself, or, in U’s case, be U. Her decision about who to be when she grows up should please readers, though the heavy-handed lead-up to that conclusion may confound them. The story is cute, though a bit thin, with a lofty message that may go over kids’ heads. However, the humorous, inventive illustrations are appealing, with playful use of typography and fonts; many colored images are pleasingly set against monochromatic line drawings. The adorable, exuberant student letters and teacher have spindly limbs, dots for eyes, and small, curved mouths. Ms. Bracket, who resembles a squiggly, yellow piece of pasta, wears a “hair” adornment. Children may be spurred to take part in their own creative lettering activities—collages for example. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Somewhat cerebral but brimming with visual charm—and likely to spark ideas in the artistically minded. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 11, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-38502-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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