A visual treat, even if Little Bird is a little much.
A loquacious bird is first shunned then valued for his talkative nature.
Little Bird has a lot to say. He asks questions of his parents, tries to engage with his siblings and chatters on to other woodland creatures. No one has time for him or any interest in what he has to say, so he retreats to a little brook. There, he finds another bird who doesn’t tell him to “Be quiet!” and instead “smile[s], laugh[s], and flap[s] his wings at everything Little Bird sa[ys].” Accompanying illustrations reveal that Little Bird is talking to his own reflection in the brook, and here the story unravels a bit: Whereas earlier scenes might provoke sympathy for Little Bird when others ignore him, this scene develops him as an incessant chatterbox less interested in back-and-forth conversation than in stream-of-consciousness soliloquy. He fails to notice that he’s talking to himself or that “the bird in the water” doesn’t respond to his questions and comments. Nevertheless, his family and the other animals end up missing his chatter, and they tell him so and welcome their garrulous loved one back into the fold. Gibson’s illustrations are made of photographed tableaux of the animal characters and setting detail sculpted from fabric and other materials, and they steal the show with lively, expressive characterization.
A visual treat, even if Little Bird is a little much. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-60905-520-2
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Blue Apple
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2014
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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