Though zoo-visit stories are popular with young readers, this trip isn’t so much fun.
Tysoe (Farmer John’s Farm, 2013, etc.), in his latest picture book, introduces concepts of conservation through a class trip to the zoo.
At the zoo, a bold boy named Ben and his classmates visit elephants, lions, monkeys, hippos and other animals. Ben, who encourages his friends to be brave enough for the camel ride, gets himself into a bit of trouble in the bird house when a macaw gets tangled in his hair. As the day wears on and the children get tired, the book packs in animal facts, groupinginformation about giraffes, gorillas, rhinos and bears all on the same page. A final visit to the tigers—which includes a tactless joke about a child in a “push chair” (the image features a stroller, but the text implies a wheelchair) being “meals on wheels”—concludes the class trip. Throughout, the zookeepers and narrator offer science facts about the animals and explain conservation efforts needed to protect animals in the wild. But while most children will eagerly page through the images, the lengthy, awkward prose may thwart independent readers. The odd phrasing may stump parents reading to lap children as well: “Great chunks of meat were thrown to the lions who pounced on them roaring.” While the animals in the images are eye-catching, the children aren’t consistently drawn; sometimes they look quite young, which would reflect the text, but in one image, Ben appears middle-aged.Though sometimes strangely drawn, the humans are a diverse cast. The cover image, however, features two entirely different styles of art.
Though zoo-visit stories are popular with young readers, this trip isn’t so much fun.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1483673578
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Xlibris
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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