A delightful introduction to a famous artist for young cat fanciers and art lovers alike.
Chika, a white ceramic cat in Claude Monet’s Giverny house, comes to life and leads the painter on a merry chase through four of his paintings.
When Monet taps the cat three times, the frolicsome feline jumps off her green pillow and enters The Luncheon. Monet clambers in after her. Taking time to sip milk from a teacup and eat some crusty bread, she saunters through the painted garden just ahead of Monet, escaping by jumping out of this bucolic scene and entering The Gare Saint-Lazare. The portly painter finds himself on the ground in this painting, searching for Chika. Kids will spot her amid the crowds, the steam, and the trains, and then find her in a train window, leaving the station. Chika and the painter visit two more paintings, The Boardwalk on the Beach at Trouville, and one of his iconic water-lily paintings.The silliness of the rather elderly White man in blue suit and straw hat climbing in and out of paintings and the cat’s amusing interactions with the painted characters and landscapes will keep readers chuckling while they get a taste of the famous French impressionist’s oeuvre. The textured brush strokes of the original oils are in evidence while the artist and his cat are rendered in looser, cartoony illustrations that stand out from the paintings. An afterword provides facts about the actual ceramic cat. For a more detailed look at the painter’s methods, read Barb Rosenstock and Mary GrandPré’s Mornings With Monet (2021). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A delightful introduction to a famous artist for young cat fanciers and art lovers alike. (afterword) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30613-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House Studio
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages.
Never underestimate the chaotic fun that magic and an angry bouncing ball can create.
When Frog goes to the library, he borrows a book on magic. He then heads to a nearby park to read up on the skills necessary to becoming “a great magician.” Suddenly, a deflated yellow ball lands with a “Thud!” at his feet. Although he flexes his new magician muscles, Frog’s spells fall as flat as the ball. But when Frog shouts “Phooey!” and kicks the ball away, it inflates to become a big, angry ball. The ball begins to chase Frog, so he seeks shelter in the library—and Frog and ball turn the library’s usual calm into chaos. The cartoon chase crescendos. The ball bounces into the middle of a game of chess, interrupts a puppet show, and crashes into walls and bookcases. Staying just one bounce ahead, Frog runs, hides, grabs a ride on a book cart, and scatters books and papers as he slides across the library furniture before an alligator patron catches the ball and kicks it out the library door. But that’s not the end of the ball….Caple’s tidy panels and pastel-hued cartoons make a surprisingly effective setting for the slapstick, which should have young readers giggling. Simple sentences—often just subject and verb—with lots of repetition propel the action. Frog’s nonsense-word spells (“Poof Wiffle, Bop Bip!”) are both funny and excellent practice in phonetics. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Fast and furious action guaranteed to keep new readers laughing and turning pages. (Graphic early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4341-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
Bugs, friendship, and fun—what more could burgeoning readers want?
The titular characters collect and protect bugs in this early reader.
Against blocks of cartoonlike green grass and blue sky—with bugs hovering around them—two boys face readers with big smiles. Dirt has light skin and a head of floppy russet hair, while Bugsy has dark skin and an Afro. The text explains that “Dirt and Bugsy are bug catchers. They catch all kinds of bugs.” Bright islands of artwork against the next two white pages show nicely detailed drawings of bugs that “crawl,” “fly,” “slide,” or “hide.” Rudimentary sentences and phrases, subtle rhymes, and repetitive language encourage hesitant readers to stay engaged as a simple plot emerges. The boys are enjoying outdoor time with bugs when it begins to rain. They build a shelter—“a bug barn”—and diligently search for, seize, and house hiding bugs. The story’s conclusion is satisfactory in every way—no small feat in this genre. A welcome endnote, artistically rendered to look handwritten on lined paper, advises kids on how to be responsible bug catchers (“Find a good bug-catching jar”; “Go outside. Look around in good buggy places…”)—and bug releasers.
Bugs, friendship, and fun—what more could burgeoning readers want? (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-51992-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
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