New readers and new gardeners alike will cluck with pleasure at the adventures of Earl and Pearl. Earl and Pearl want to grow pumpkins, so they set off, seed packet and shovel in hand, to begin their new garden. Pesky Chicken wants in on the fun, but the kids just shoo her off, over and over. When grasshoppers take up residence in the pumpkin patch, Chicken shows that she is good for something after all. Familiar easy-to-decode and sight words make this an ideal book for the newest reader. The repeated “Shoo! Shoo!” and “Cluck! Cluck!” add to the action, ensuring laughter and reading success. A generous font, very short sentences and careful text placement make this a notch better than most books for the very beginning reader. Truesdell’s familiar and amusing illustrations perfectly reflect the spirit of the story of a boy (a boy of color!), a girl and a chicken, tending to their pumpkins. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-06-028723-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2008
A roundup of ready-to-read humor from familiar sources, from the team behind Ready. . .Set. . .Read! (1990). The story section includes Amelia Bedelia pinning up a lady's hair with safety pins; Morris and Boris doing Abbott and Costello; and James Marshall's switched boxes of pizza and pet mice. There are a few gems in the poetry section, notably the works of Eve Merriam, Arnold Lobel, Dr. Seuss (``When the drops stop dropping/then the storm starts stopping''), Jack Prelutsky (slishy, sloshy spaghetti), and Maurice Sendak (his March wind blows chicken soup with rice). The remaining pieces are pleasant enough, but not outright funny. The final section is a smattering of readily available riddles, rebuses, and the like. Throughout, the strong selections point up the weakness of the majority of the material. Serviceable but uneven. (Anthology. 4-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-385-32119-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this very brief, tongue-in-cheek Swedish import, young Will (Will Gets a Haircut, 1993) has a fine day at the beach with his motherespecially after rain drives away any witnesses and he learns how to float and paddle about. The text runs only a line or two per page beneath deceptively simple cartoons; Will's expressions and silent commentary form an amusing counterpoint to his mother's chat. Low-key, but a charmer. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 2, 1995
ISBN: 91-29-62914-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: R&S/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1995
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