by Kurt Cyrus & illustrated by Kurt Cyrus ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2010
Cyrus offers a creative, appealing comparison between bugs and construction trucks. When a litterbug at a construction site tosses his lunch remains out the window, the bugs spring into action: “Cleanup crew— / work to do! / Big rigs roll / from every hole.” Each bug then does its own job, metaphors connecting them to one of the tiny construction trucks seen off in the distance. “Clear that thicket, / dozer cricket,” reads the text as a bulldozer rolls over the hill in the background. The illustrations give readers a close-up view of the action, the bugs filling the spreads, some so large that their entire bodies do not fit within the confines of the pages. While this lends well to larger group sharing, it takes away somewhat from the detail—in some cases it is difficult to tell exactly what the bugs are doing with the sandwich remains, and this weakens the impact. The bare-bones, rhyming text makes this accessible to even very young children, while the combination of construction trucks and bugs is sure to guarantee its popularity. (Picture book. 2-6)
Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8027-8674-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2010
Share your opinion of this book
More by Mark Lee
BOOK REVIEW
by Mark Lee ; illustrated by Kurt Cyrus
BOOK REVIEW
by Kurt Cyrus ; illustrated by Andy Atkins
BOOK REVIEW
by Kurt Cyrus ; illustrated by Kurt Cyrus
by Sandra Magsamen ; illustrated by Sandra Magsamen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 4, 2018
So sweet it’ll have readers heading for their toothbrushes.
Another entry in the how-much-I-love-you genre.
The opening spread shows a blue elephant-and-child pair, the child atop the adult, white hearts arcing between their uplifted trunks: “You’re a gift and a blessing in every way. / I love you more each and every day.” From there, the adult elephant goes on to tell the child how they are loved more than all sorts of things, some rhyming better than others: “I love you more than all the spaghetti served in Rome, // and more than each and every dog loves her bone.” More than stars, fireflies, “all the languages spoken in the world,” “all the dancers that have ever twirled,” all the kisses ever given and miles ever driven, “all the adventures you have ahead,” and “all the peanut butter and jelly spread on bread!” Representative of all the world’s languages are “I love you” in several languages (with no pronunciation help): English, Sioux, French, German, Swahili, Spanish, Hawaiian, Chinese, and Arabic (these two last in Roman characters only). Bold colors and simple illustrations with no distracting details keep readers’ focus on the main ideas. Dashed lines give the artwork (and at least one word on every spread) the look of 2-D sewn toys.
So sweet it’ll have readers heading for their toothbrushes. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: Dec. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4926-8398-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
More by Sandra Magsamen
BOOK REVIEW
by Sandra Magsamen ; illustrated by Melisa Fernández Nitsche
BOOK REVIEW
by Sandra Magsamen ; illustrated by Sandra Magsamen
BOOK REVIEW
by Sandra Magsamen ; illustrated by Sandra Magsamen
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2014
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
by Audrey Penn & illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
More by Audrey Penn
BOOK REVIEW
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
BOOK REVIEW
by Audrey Penn ; illustrated by Mike Yamada
BOOK REVIEW
by Audrey Penn & illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.