Feline siblings Harry and Emily help their mother celebrate her special day in this sixth entry in the Harry and Emily Adventure series by Ruelle (Easy as Apple Pie, 2002, etc.). The mid-level easy reader text is divided into four chapters, with Ruelle’s naive drawings in a variety of formats adding their own understated charm. The kittens talk over Mother’s Day with both their mom and their dad, discuss what presents they could create, and decide on home-grown flowers and a home-cooked breakfast in bed as their gifts. They plant flower seeds for their mom, and when the big day arrives, they make lumpy marshmallow-and-peanut-butter pancakes to serve alongside their budding marigolds and a homemade card. Little sister Emily leaps on the bed, spilling everything, but her mom reassures her that, just as her own mother always said, a mother’s best Mother’s Day gifts are her own children. This sentimental though heart-felt conclusion is likely to appeal more to adults than children, but the earnest endeavors of the charming kittens are still engaging. The story also subtly reinforces some curriculum objectives through the details of several processes: planning for a family holiday, growing seeds, time sequences, gathering ingredients for a recipe, and cooking. Harry and Emily have quite a few more holidays to explore, and this publisher in particular seems likely to extend the franchise. (Easy reader. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 15, 2003
ISBN: 0-8234-1773-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2003
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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