This winning read-aloud should encourage multiple recitations.
A day of blueberry picking and all it entails is experienced in a jaunty, rollicking romp.
Siblings set out barefoot through the muddy grass with their wagon, fill their bucket and mouths with the fruit, and return home with their bounty. “Berries on tongues taste bumpety-bump. / Plop them in the bucket, they go plunkety-plunk. // Bucket in the wagon rattles clunkety-clunk. // Bumpety, plunkety, clunkety-clunk.” Pie baking is next as the sibs feel the plumpness of the berries through their fingers, enjoy a piece of the freshly baked dessert, help to clean up dishes, take a bath, happily say goodnight, snuggle in for a story, and fall asleep after a very satisfying day. Each scene, rendered in muted colors with printlike textures, depicts this possibly mixed-race family (one child has light-brown skin, the other has pink; mom and dad are both light-skinned) working together as the story unfolds in its sonorous, animated phrasing. Little ones will bounce along to each new frolicsome declaration right up to the somniferous end. “Snuggle in the blankie in a lumpety-lump. // Hearts beat close with a thumpety-thump. // Bumpety, lumpety, thumpety- thump.”
This winning read-aloud should encourage multiple recitations. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-3414-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Overworn coattails.
Writing a fictionalized version of himself, naturalist Wohlleben gives lessons to orphaned talking squirrel Piet as they search for tree families in this stripped-down storybook version of The Hidden Life of Trees (2016).
Both Peter and Piet have cartoonlike faces with round, black eyes, and the scenery—bright with earth tones and generic foliage—also resembles bland commercial animation. While Peter presents as a ruddy-faced white man sporting a gray beard, the only other named human—Dana—is a woman of color, dressed in overalls and engaged in sustainable forestry. Kudos for this. Otherwise, the text tries too hard to intersperse interesting facts about trees and squirrels—some rudimentary, others relatively obscure—into a simplistic plot: Lonely squirrel seeks family; takes walk with Peter; still feels lonely; gains Peter as family. Among other things, young readers learn that trees often need the protection of older, taller trees to grow up properly; that heavy equipment compacts earth too hard for seeds to get started; that hawks prey on squirrels; that squirrels help start beech seedlings; that some trees release an orange-smelling distress signal. Oddly, Peter gives no credit to people planting saplings in the wake of deforestation, since these unprotected trees will “have a hard life” without families. Can You Hear the Trees Talking? (2019) superbly adapted Wohlleben’s bestseller for middle graders; this patronizing attempt to bring it to a still younger audience fails.
Overworn coattails. (foreword, endnotes) (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77164-457-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greystone Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A droll exploration of color and nature—and a welcome reminder to safeguard our planet.
Daywalt and Jeffers’ wildly popular Crayons have an important ecological message.
Though climate change is never mentioned, the book nevertheless gently introduces responsibility for Planet Earth. As in previous titles, the main text is in a large black font, while the Crayons’ dialogue is presented in a smaller, gray font. Blue begins by showing off a blue-tinged image of the globe (land masses are depicted in a darker hue). Green takes over: “Yay, Trees! I did those!” Beige breaks in, pointing to a tiny wheat plant next to two large trees: “And wheat! I did the WHEAT!” Beige puts wheat front and center throughout—even on White’s drawing of mountaintop ice caps. When Red, Yellow, and Orange display drawings of various fruits, Beige interjects, “And WHEAT. Wheat is totally fruit.” Diplomatic Purple politely responds, “Um. NO. It is not.” Purple attempts to dissuade self-important Beige, but it all ends happily as the Crayons join hands and proclaim: “Our planet has all of us too, in many shapes, colors, and sizes.” Beige and Purple reconcile, with Beige adding, “And it’s our job to keep the planet safe.” Young children will easily absorb this positive message. Although these characters have had many outings, their quiet humor still succeeds, and fans will definitely want this new entry.
A droll exploration of color and nature—and a welcome reminder to safeguard our planet. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593621080
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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