“Be prepared” is the message in this sweet but nearly catatonic tale. Hillary, a kitten, has a date to attend a play in a neighboring city with her drama club. It is cold and snowing, so Hillary bundles up with layers of clothes and scarves and “Super-Duper Below-Zero Snow Walkers.” But once in the van, she begins to melt down, and she gets a gentle chiding from her pals about overdressing and not having dress-up clothes like they have. The snowstorm turns into a blizzard, the van skids off the road, and Hillary puts all her clothes back on to walk to a house they can see across the street. The lady of the house invites them in to spend the night as the roads are closing. So the drama club puts on a play about a snow rescue to entertain themselves and their host. The next day, spare clothes are brought out and the kids bundle into them and head home. “ ‘Next time I’ll bring my own winter gear,’ said Marcie on the way home.” The artwork is as mild as this strangely domesticated story about an event that should have been at least a little scary. The car skidding off the road, the storm, and the trudge through the snow—it is as though these excitements are packed in lint. And what about Ginny’s dad, the driver? Talk about a feckless boob: a story could be built on his irresponsibility alone. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-57505-420-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lerner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2000
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor
Having surveyed worms, spiders, flies, and head lice, Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series with a quick hop through toad fact and fancy.
The facts are briefly presented in a hand-lettered–style typeface frequently interrupted by visually emphatic interjections (“TOXIN,” “PREY,” “EWWW!”). These are, as usual, paired to simply drawn cartoons with comments and punch lines in dialogue balloons. After casting glances at the common South American ancestor of frogs and toads, and at such exotic species as the Emei mustache toad (“Hey ladies!”), Gravel focuses on the common toad, Bufo bufo. Using feminine pronouns throughout, she describes diet and egg-laying, defense mechanisms, “warts,” development from tadpole to adult, and of course how toads shed and eat their skins. Noting that global warming and habitat destruction have rendered some species endangered or extinct, she closes with a plea and, harking back to those South American origins, an image of an outsized toad, arm in arm with a dark-skinned lad (in a track suit), waving goodbye: “Hasta la vista!”
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor . (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77049-667-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
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