bookshelf

ON THE STAIRS

Name: ON THE STAIRS
Author: Julie Hofstrand Larios
ISBN: 1-886910-34-0

by Julie Hofstrand Larios ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999

bookshelf

As she lovingly details the comfortable disarray of a perfectly splendid staircase, a small mouse counts off the stairs in a game she has clearly played many times. The rhyme skips and leaps from “First step. Rain step,” because that’s where her puddle boots are, to the third step, where the window seat is, to the sixth, where she can peer into her own bedroom, to the eleventh where the night light lives, and the twelfth where she can go back down and start again. She’s accompanied by her little sister and readers catch a glimpse at the end of a mother, father, and baby, too. The details are whimsical, and the rhyme infectious. A real treat, perfectly centered on a small child’s perceptions and experience. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999

ISBN: 1-886910-34-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

bookshelf

CIRCLE SONG

by Diana Engel ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1999

bookshelf

A brief, rhythmic text combines lullaby with concept book. An African-American baby and parent are shown in the illustrations. “Wrap your arms around me, make a circle, hold me tight. I’ll take you spinning through the air, as daylight turns to night.” The cuddled child is in pajamas, the moon is “like a night-light hanging high,” while the stars and child’s face and features are more examples of the lovingly conveyed main theme. The illustrations, portholes in the center of increasingly darker borders as night descends, show the parent and child with round objects—a goldfish bowl, a round mirror, etc. Engel (The Shelf- Paper Jungle, 1994, etc.) uses watercolors to portray whimsical moonscapes and a starry sky in pleasing and memorable ways. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: March 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-7614-5040-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Marshall Cavendish

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SHELF-PAPER JUNGLE
by Diana Engel & illustrated by Diana Engel

- BOOK REVIEW
ELEANOR, ARTHUR, AND CLAIRE
by Diana Engel & illustrated by Diana Engel

bookshelf

THE COWBOY ABC

by Chris L. Demarest ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1999

bookshelf

Demarest (Plane, 1995, etc.) abandons his familiar minimalist cartoons for a more elaborate style in this tribute to the cowboy mythos. Captioned by a rhymed alphabet—“A is for Appaloosa, a trusty steed. B is for Buckaroo, who rides at top speed”—the scenes depict a crew of cowhands (of both sexes) working horses, cattle, and sheep through a series of unspoiled, wide-open landscapes. Rendering chaps and stetsons, nighthawks and prairie dogs in loving detail, Demarest captures that rugged, outdoorsy life at its most romanticized, and will leave readers itching to saddle up. (Picture book. 6-7)