Busy, crowded, vibrant—like a party.
Sundry animals with a common goal squabble, shriek, and work it out.
It’s Little Robin’s birthday. The “other animals in the zoo” are planning a party. There’s nary a cage, zookeeper, or human; the “zoo” claim is merely a casual, forgettable premise that explains the wildly diverse animals hanging out together. There are roosters from Portugal, Jamaica, Nigeria, Germany, and China and frogs from North America, Poland, Iran, Korea, Thailand, and Italy. (Origins are conveyed textually.) When everyone tries to plan the party’s “perfect” music (“moosic,” says Mr. Cow from England) by belting their own song, it’s a “cacophany”—animals are “roaring, mooing, yelping, braying, squawking and meowing,” all in their respective languages. There is the same problem with food (“fooohhhuuod” says Mr. Owl from the United States): Shouts for curry, phō, egusi, and sadza; an artichoke, a croissant, and sushi fly through the air. Both tussles resolve with a quick, didactic message. Sing “to-ge-ther,” commands Ms. Water Buffalo, the din becoming a “grand melody” under her direction. Accidentally mixing all the foods somehow produces “the tastiest thing” Little Robin’s ever eaten. The cooperation lessons offer no applicable how-to’s—combining myriad international dishes into one mish-mosh-stew might not really taste superb—but Baum-Owoyele’s cheerful watercolors have a true party feeling. The small trim size overcrowds the animals, but their bright colors and keen-edged shapes, crisp and energetic against the white background, bounce with energy.
Busy, crowded, vibrant—like a party. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-953458-12-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Yeehoo Press
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
The familiar singsong repetitiveness is catchy in all settings, holiday or otherwise.
A hoppy, snappy Easter version of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.
Three young tots, with varied skin tones and baskets ready in their hands, eagerly scamper on a spring day to find some eggs. But of course, they meet hindrances along the way. “Ooh, look … // Chickens! / Flapping, pecking chickens.” Thus starts the rolling refrain: “Can’t go over them. / Can’t go under them. / Can’t go around them. // Got to go through them!” The waddling chickens don’t pose much of an obstacle, but they do “Cluck-cluck!” loudly as they scatter in the sun. The three youngsters then must face “fluffy, hungry bunnies” (adorable long-eared puffballs with carrot fronds in their mouths) and “happy, hopping frogs” as they balance on stones to cross a pond. All of this leads to a garden bursting with colorful flowers (“Rustle-swish! / Rustle-swish!”) and finally…10 eggs in pastel patterns. Each egg has a number on it to encourage readers to count along and strengthen their numeracy skills. Rozelaar’s plump and rounded world, with roly-poly trees, flowers, and hills, wraps the tale in coziness.
The familiar singsong repetitiveness is catchy in all settings, holiday or otherwise. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9798887771304
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
The book is available in just about every format--but this is the perfect one.
It's hard to believe that a pop-up wasn't the creators' original intention, so seamlessly do moveable parts dovetail into this modern classic's storyline.
In contrast to the tale's 1998 pop -up version, the figures here move on every page, and with an unusually graceful naturalism to boot. From pulling down Big Nutbrown Hare's ears on the opening spread to make sure he's listening to drowsily turning his head to accept a final good-night kiss in a multi-leveled pull-down tableau at the close, all of Little Nutbrown Hare's hops, stretches and small gestures serve the poetically spare text—as do Big Nutbrown's wider, higher responses to his charge's challenges. As readers turn a flap to read Big Nutbrown's "But I love you this much," his arms extend to demonstrate. The emotional connection between the two hares is clearer than ever in Jeram's peaceful, restrained outdoor scenes, which are slightly larger than those in the trade edition, and the closing scene is made even more intimate by hiding the closing line ("I love you right up to the moon—and back") until an inconspicuous flap is opened up.
The book is available in just about every format--but this is the perfect one. (Pop-up picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5378-1
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
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