A beekeeping grandpa stars in debut author Krebs’s witty ditty modeled after The House that Jack Built. “Here is his jacket, / with zippered up hood / that covers his face / just the way that it should / when he visits his hives as / the Beeman.” Told from the granddaughter’s perspective, rhyming text introduces beekeeping equipment, processes, and the roles of each bee in the hive (including queen bee, drones, workers, and house bees). Iwai’s (Hannah’s Christmas, 2001, etc.) full-bleed acrylic-on-board illustrations picture adult and child in the backyard bee farm; text and vignettes—of a jacket, leather gloves, and beehive—appear in quarter-spread panels. Unfortunately, Iwai’s static figures compromise the vitality of her refreshing palette. In one spread, for example, adult and child—both in bee suits—appear against a backdrop of green trees, bushes, and a sun-dappled lawn; stiffly lifting the beehive, the grandfather looks as if he’s about to fall backward. Nevertheless, Iwai does a good job representing the bees; a dramatic close-up depicts “house bees” fanning the nectar in an intricate geometric honeycomb. Teachers wishing to supplement studies of community will find Krebs’s debut useful for its introduction to the social structure of bee-dom; librarians will likely notice a buzz for the book around Grandparent’s Day too. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-7922-7224-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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