A rough start to both a friendship and a series.
A fruit bat and a two-toed sloth slowly make friends in this opening volume in an early reader series.
As the sun sets, readers meet Bat, who is sleeping upside down in a rainforest. When he awakens, he’s unpleasantly surprised to find another animal in his tree: “This is my branch!” The newcomer is in favor of sharing, though, and Sloth introduces himself—slowly, of course. Sloth sees the two as similar, but Bat points out all their differences. In the next chapter, the two enjoy fruit together before unsuccessfully playing some games. Tag clearly is not a game in Sloth’s wheelhouse, and when Bat hides, Sloth falls asleep before he can count to 10 and begin seeking. In Chapter 3, each of the new friends saves the other from calamity and is a hero. The final chapter features an accident, some reluctant apologizing, and forgiveness. The Level 2 reader uses brief chapters, short sentences, easy words, and a bit of repetition to strengthen beginning readers’ skills. Braun’s illustrations focus on the branch the new friends share, a soft blue sky and deep green in the trees highlighting the fact that the animals are nocturnal. The book’s weak spot is character development. In both the pictures and the text Sloth seems adorable and sweet while Bat comes off as a rather brash friend. Readers may not want to spend more time with him.
A rough start to both a friendship and a series. (Early reader. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8075-0585-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their...
Ruby is an adventurous and happy child until the day she discovers a Worry.
Ruby barely sees the Worry—depicted as a blob of yellow with a frowny unibrow—at first, but as it hovers, the more she notices it and the larger it grows. The longer Ruby is affected by this Worry, the fewer colors appear on the page. Though she tries not to pay attention to the Worry, which no one else can see, ignoring it prevents her from enjoying the things that she once loved. Her constant anxiety about the Worry causes the bright yellow blob to crowd Ruby’s everyday life, which by this point is nearly all washes of gray and white. But at the playground, Ruby sees a boy sitting on a bench with a growing sky-blue Worry of his own. When she invites the boy to talk, his Worry begins to shrink—and when Ruby talks about her own Worry, it also grows smaller. By the book’s conclusion, Ruby learns to control her Worry by talking about what worries her, a priceless lesson for any child—or adult—conveyed in a beautifully child-friendly manner. Ruby presents black, with hair in cornrows and two big afro-puff pigtails, while the boy has pale skin and spiky black hair.
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their feelings (. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0237-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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