A small, artless introduction to a terrier with an independent spirit. As soon as he’s old enough to leave his cozy bed, Tucker displays the urge for adventure, learning how to balance on a skateboard, dive off the sofa, and dig deep holes in the snow—all skills that come in handy one winter day when he jumps onto a sled. Down the slope it careens, coming to an abrupt stop that sends him looping into a snow bank. Up rushes a child to cuddle him, followed by his siblings and worried mother. Through it all, Tucker shows not a trace of fear, though he does enjoy all the subsequent attention. With pictures that rival Sandra Boynton’s for clean-lined simplicity, and a text that is not cut down to bare description, this book, similar to John Schoenherr’s Rebel (1995), gives children who are ready for the first step of adventure some reassurance that they won’t be left out in the cold. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-525-46259-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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The perennially popular lift-the-flap format combines with the equally well-received invitation to make animal noises in this pleasing romp through a variety of regions and biomes. An African child on the riverbank asks, “Who can snap?” Lift the flap in the reeds for the answer: “I’m a crocodile. I can!” A duck in a farm pond, a panda in a bamboo grove, a wolf on the tundra and a parrot in an Asian jungle follow in succession, all leading to a final spread that unites all the children: “And we all can sing!” Mockford’s illustrations employ baby-friendly bold, black outlines and vibrant colors. A companion volume, Walk with Me (ISBN: 978-1-84686-179-6), explores animal locomotion. (6-24 mos.)
Pub Date: March 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-84686-180-2
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Barefoot
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2009
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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A 15-year-old girl in Colombia, doing time in a remote detention center, orchestrates a jail break and tries to get home.
"People say drugs and alcohol are the greatest and most persuasive narcotics—the elements most likely to ruin a life. They're wrong. It's love." As the U.S. recovers from the repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, from the misery of separations on the border, from both the idea and the reality of a wall around the United States, Engel's vital story of a divided Colombian family is a book we need to read. Weaving Andean myth and natural symbolism into her narrative—condors signify mating for life, jaguars revenge; the embattled Colombians are "a singed species of birds without feathers who can still fly"; children born in one country and raised in another are "repotted flowers, creatures forced to live in the wrong habitat"—she follows Talia, the youngest child, on a complex journey. Having committed a violent crime not long before she was scheduled to leave her father in Bogotá to join her mother and siblings in New Jersey, she winds up in a horrible Catholic juvie from which she must escape in order to make her plane. Hence the book's wonderful first sentence: "It was her idea to tie up the nun." Talia's cross-country journey is interwoven with the story of her parents' early romance, their migration to the United States, her father's deportation, her grandmother's death, the struggle to reunite. In the latter third of the book, surprising narrative shifts are made to include the voices of Talia's siblings, raised in the U.S. This provides interesting new perspectives, but it is a little awkward to break the fourth wall so late in the book. Attention, TV and movie people: This story is made for the screen.
The rare immigrant chronicle that is as long on hope as it is on heartbreak.Pub Date: today
ISBN: 978-1-982159-46-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Avid Reader Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
Categories: LITERARY FICTION | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP
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Cheerful, flashy colors herald this book for toddlers from Murphy (Caterpillar’s Wish, p. 454, etc.). The stout pages depict the doings of a young, boldly outlined penguin, who is making a lot of noise. He (or she) bangs pots, jumps a lot, roller skates around the house, and in each instance, a parent penguin asks for quiet, until finally: “Outside, please!” The youngster waltzes down the garden path, where he meets up with his pals, a piglet and a bunny, for some hopping, rolling, and puddle-jumping. When his mother says he can return to the house, he has an idea: He can dance around in a pair of socks to muffle the noise. “Clever you!” says his mother. The simple, recognizable antics along with the flamboyant blue, yellow, and red should catch and hold onlookers, as will the closing page; the little penguin, now settled in his mother’s lap along with the baby, tells the crying child, “Please be quiet!” What goes around, comes around, in this jolly glimpse of a child’s noisy needs. (Picture book. 1-4)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-97113-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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