Another tribute to imagination from highly creative partners.
This tongue-in-cheek text gives instructions on elephant-discovery methods when boredom threatens; the art shows an earnest, but oblivious, child on safari—and camouflaged elephants galore.
The young child is light-skinned, blue-eyed, and fair-haired, with gender unknown. Following the (rather pedantic) narrator’s instructions, the child moves from idleness to an elephant quest. The child’s prescribed gear—including binoculars, a flute, and a blanket “that’s tasseled and brightly colored, with a story woven through the cloth”—awaits a backpack near a beckoning doorway. Page after page, the text gives pointers on elephant-spotting, while the sophisticated, textural artwork allows young readers to spot elephants that the obedient, fictional child does not see. A mostly pastel palette backgrounds the brightly clad child, veering freely between an imaginary jungle and tamer spaces. A particularly funny double-page spread shows the child filling up a bright red water bottle and standing on what appears to be a rock in a watering hole. The water is actually spurting from the trunk of a mostly submerged elephant, and the child is unwittingly perched on its large, rough knee. Although, in the end, child and elephant are merrily, consciously linked, the final whimsical image contradicts advice given much earlier—“look for something large and gray”—and compels readers to revisit the entire book.
Another tribute to imagination from highly creative partners. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-374-33508-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field.
Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach.
Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0297-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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