Another nicely honed Redfeather Book from the author of Lavender (1993) and Phoenix Rising (p. 480). Again, the theme is caring for loved ones; but where the adults in Lavender were exemplary, the parents here hardly seem to love their daughter in the beginning, much less the stray dog she adopts. Gruff Pap, a carpenter, is too busy to let Tate help him or to understand her need for companionship. Mam has a deep fear of dogs and still has scars to show why; she's testy and anxious when Pap lets Tate feed ``Sable'' and keep her outside. But Tate loves the dog, and Sable reciprocates her affection. Unfortunately, once she's well fed, she takes to wandering—follows the school bus, brings things home, bothers neighbors. When there are complaints, Pap gives Sable to a customer, miles away. Desolate but determined, Tate builds a fence in hopes of bringing Sable home, then hitches a ride to see her; but the dog has run away. By the time she makes her way home, each character has gained some insights: With more help from Tate, and realizing how much she has grieved, Mam mellows; Pap sees the fence as evidence that Tate might make a carpenter; even Sable has had enough of running and settles down. With a fresh narrative voice, thoughtfully developed characters, and its surefire Lassie-Come-Home ending, a fine early chapter book. (Fiction. 6-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8050-2416-6
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1994
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
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