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A SNOW DAY FOR HANNAH

Name: A SNOW DAY FOR HANNAH
Author: Linda Petrie Bunch
ISBN: 978-0977778119

by Linda Petrie Bunch ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2011

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A puppy goes on joyful adventures in this photo-filled rhyming picture book.

Hannah is an adorable Bernese Mountain Dog puppy who loves to play in the snow. After realizing that a snowstorm is coming, Hannah hurries inside—only to return outdoors to sled, build a snowman and hike through the woods once the sun has returned. The photographs, full of breathtaking scenery, are engaging, particularly those that show Hannah in action. However, the rhymes are often forced and contain challenging vocabulary for young readers: "As she headed for home / she could feel the storm coming / with her fine sense of smell, / her sight, and her cunning." Bunch gives Hannah the gift of speech, attributing observations directly to the young pup ("The air smells so clean!" / She barked right out loud), but in most instances, Hannah acts like a normal pooch. The moments she takes on human qualities are jarring, such as when she is buried up to her neck in a snow angel. Evidence of humans is clearly present, such as when Hannah walks along a paved road or perches in a human-sized chair to watch the snowfall from inside. The story would be stronger if a human appeared to create a snow angel—or "help" Hannah build a snowman—rather than anthropomorphizing the puppy. Furthermore, some of the digital editing makes Hannah and landmarks, such as a sign for a hiking trail, appear superimposed. Hannah's genuine poses and the scenery are so delightful that the editing feels unnecessary. Very young readers, however, aren’t likely to be concerned with such incongruities. Hannah is an engaging enough character that awkward moments in the narration and pressures to suspend disbelief are easily forgiven. Practiced readers struggling with the advanced vocabulary may be less satisfied. With a cute hero and gorgeous vistas depicted in clear, bright photos, young readers will happily curl up on a parent's lap to see Hannah's antics.

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2011

ISBN: 978-0977778119

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Book Club Productions

Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2012

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S SPRINGTIME

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 2, 2018

Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.

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Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.

This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.

Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)