This story of determination and friendship is simply and consistently told.
Bear is eager to prepare for the Summer Scoot but realizes learning to ride a bicycle from a book is harder than it appears.
Sure that his bicycle is in good shape and ready, Bear attempts his first ride by applying the instructions he has reviewed in Learn To Ride in Five Easy Steps. First he straddles the bike, next he grips the handlebars, then he begins to pedal by pushing off—but his attempts to balance result in a “Pedal-wibble. Pedal-wobble. Crash!” Complaining that it was not easy at all, Bear walks his bike to the library to find a different instruction book. Along the way he meets three friends: Porcupine, Doe, and Squirrel, each one at a different stage of mastery. In exchanges that are equal parts commiseration and encouragement, Bear learns that a new book is not the answer when he can keep trying and practicing with the support of his friends as Summer Scoot draws near. The message of perseverance is augmented with fine-lined cartoon drawings offering depth and color to a kind, purposeful narrative. All animals wear helmets with tightly buckled chin straps, the massive Bear looking particularly comical. A two-page addendum outlines ways to care for and responsibly ride a two-wheeler courtesy of Bear and his riding buddies.
This story of determination and friendship is simply and consistently told. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5064-6569-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Beaming Books
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity.
Buzz and his buzzy buddy open a spinoff series of nonfiction early readers with an aquarium visit.
Buzz: “Like other fish, sharks breathe through gills.” Fly Guy: “GILLZZ.” Thus do the two pop-eyed cartoon tour guides squire readers past a plethora of cramped but carefully labeled color photos depicting dozens of kinds of sharks in watery settings, along with close-ups of skin, teeth and other anatomical features. In the bite-sized blocks of narrative text, challenging vocabulary words like “carnivores” and “luminescence” come with pronunciation guides and lucid in-context definitions. Despite all the flashes of dentifrice and references to prey and smelling blood in the water, there is no actual gore or chowing down on display. Sharks are “so cool!” proclaims Buzz at last, striding out of the gift shop. “I can’t wait for our next field trip!” (That will be Fly Guy Presents: Space, scheduled for September 2013.)
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity. (Informational easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-50771-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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