This bedtime story, populated with a variety of toy-like animals, will strike a chord with readers accustomed to wearing out their caregivers. A lyrical, brief text flows with no false notes as the hours tick by on each spread: ``Tick-tock, it's one o'clock,/Who wants to go to the park with Will?''—a dog with floppy ears and beret, walking upright. The children are a duck, a hedgehog, an elephant, and a pig, all smaller than Will. They climb a tree and ``when Hedgehog falls, we've all had enough,'' so the sobbing creature can be consoled. There is a little picnic, drawn with effective details—Will holds one child while reaching to help another, a familiar pose for any parent, although Will is positioning a glass so the elephant's trunk can go inside. Back at home, the little ones are settled into an array of makeshift beds, and, as the hours slip toward midnight, they put Will through the paces until he falls asleep in his chair. Gentle humor and affection inform every page of this childlike story, where soft watercolor drawings are perfectly accomplished with a minimum of line. The book will sing to those who love Jill Murphy's A Quiet Night In (1994), and translates beautifully to uses in foster-care and group-home situations. (Picture book. 1-4)
Pub Date: April 10, 1998
ISBN: 91-29-64074-1
Page Count: 28
Publisher: R&S/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver.
The farmyard's chickens experience Halloween.
A round, full moon shines in the sky, and the chickens of Boynton's barnyard are feeling “nervous.” Pumpkins shine “with flickering eyes,” witches and wizards wander the pastures, and one chicken has seen “a mouse of enormous size.” It’s Halloween night, and readers will delight as the chickens huddle together and try to figure out what's going on. All ends well, of course, and in Boynton's trademark silly style. (It’s really quite remarkable how her ranks of white, yellow-beaked chickens evoke rows of candy corn.) At this point parents and children know what they're in for when they pick up a book by the prolific author, and she doesn't disappoint here. The chickens are silly, the pigs are cute, and the coloring and illustrations evoke a warmth that little ones wary of Halloween will appreciate. For children leery of the ghouls and goblins lurking in the holiday's iconography, this is a perfect antidote, emphasizing all the fun Halloween has to offer.
An excellent, rounded effort from a creator who knows how to deliver. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-9300-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this board book designed for the littlest llama lovers, adorable-as-ever Llama Llama (Llama Llama Red Pajama, 2005, etc.) gets ready for some Halloween fun.
Dewdney’s characteristic spare, apt rhymes convey a lot of action in effortlessly readable fashion. A charming and simple introduction to Halloween and its associated activities, this title finds little Llama Llama choosing and carving a pumpkin, pouring candy into bowls, picking out a costume and, finally, trick-or-treating. The costume Llama Llama decides to don—pointy teeth and a black mask and cape—is enough to frighten and fool his friends but not readers, who will immediately recognize and smile at the silly little mini-Dracula. With Dewdney’s characters as expressive as ever, young readers will be drawn right into the holiday fun, eagerly anticipating which costume Llama Llama will choose and excited to see him scare his friends and score some candy at trick-or-treat. In the equally appealing companion title, Llama Llama Jingle Bells,the little fellow gets ready for Christmas, baking and decorating some cookies in anticipation of Santa’s arrival. This simple holiday title will win Llama Llama new fans, and old friends will want to add it and its companion to their collections. (Board book. 1-2)
Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2014
ISBN: 978-0451469786
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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