The whole story is a balloon-enclosed dialogue between two unseen fleas, one of whom is eager to explore the world while the other prefers to stay put. In the beginning the adventuresome flea talks the other into moving from a dog's hind end up to his ear; from there he leads his hesitant, grumbling companion onto a chicken, a porcupine, a mole, a turtle, and a duck. Flea number one then moves onto a bird, exclaiming over the joys of flying, but the second, drawing the line, returns "home" to wait on the dog for his friend's report on the wider world. A cute idea, with the balloon "voices" the only indication of where the two speakers are situated, but both the abrupt, ping-pong dialogue and the static pictures (simply one host animal after another in Lionni's familiar marbelized collages) give it a stiff, jerky quality. All in all, a bit of fun but not one of Lionni's more enticing creations.
Pub Date: Aug. 22, 1977
ISBN: 0905478266
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1977
I've seen only three double spreads and the text of this picture book by the author-artist of Lentil — but I'm sure it is going to be an enchanting and very original book. Mr. Mallard thinks the Boston Public Gardens would be a nice place to raise a family; but Mrs. Mallard is afraid of the swan boats, though the peanuts tempt her too. So she makes her nest near the River Charles, and agrees to meet Mr. Mallard in the Public Gardens when the ducklings have had some training. The time comes; she sets out with the ducklings stringing along behind her. It takes the Boston police department to get them across the streets, but get there they do, and reach the Public Garden pond in safety.
Pub Date: Aug. 18, 1941
ISBN: 0140564349
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1941
Unimpeachable.
A nearly wordless exploration of Aesop’s fable of symbiotic mercy that is nothing short of masterful.
A mouse, narrowly escaping an owl at dawn, skitters up what prove to be a male lion’s tail and back. Lion releases Mouse in a moment of bemused gentility and—when subsequently ensnared in a poacher’s rope trap—reaps the benefit thereof. Pinkney successfully blends anthropomorphism and realism, depicting Lion’s massive paws and Mouse’s pink inner ears along with expressions encompassing the quizzical, hapless and nearly smiling. He plays, too, with perspective, alternating foreground views of Mouse amid tall grasses with layered panoramas of the Serengeti plain and its multitudinous wildlife. Mouse, befitting her courage, is often depicted heroically large relative to Lion. Spreads in watercolor and pencil employ a palette of glowing amber, mouse-brown and blue-green. Artist-rendered display type ranges from a protracted “RRROAARRRRRRRRR” to nine petite squeaks from as many mouselings. If the five cubs in the back endpapers are a surprise, the mouse family of ten, perched on the ridge of father lion’s back, is sheer delight.
Unimpeachable. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-01356-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2009
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