One red hat plus a troop of enthusiastic animals equals trouble!
Young fans will love reading and rereading this nearly wordless continuation of the adventure of the hat from Judge’s marvelous winter tale, Red Sled (2011). It’s spring-cleaning time now, so the child washes the red hat and hangs it out to dry. Yellow flowers are blooming, little bunnies are hopping, butterflies are flittering, and the sun is shining. When the critters spy the hat pinned to the line, the cub speaks for everyone: “Hrmmm?” At first, an energetic game of keep-away breaks out, with the accompanying sounds and exclamations of pursuit and merriment. Readers will feel the thrill of the game until the illustrations show that things might have gotten out of control. The expressive words—Whoa, shwooop, eeeeeeeeeeeeep—become Wut-whoa and Uhmm-mrr, signaling the animals’ realization that the hat is now just one long red strand of yarn with a white pompom on the end. Readers will laugh out loud at the caption when the guilty animals shuffle away from the clothesline, whistling innocently: “Doot-do-doo.” Luckily, the little child is a clever one, able to make everything better than before. The watercolor-and-pencil illustrations are deceptively simple and strike the perfect chord of energy and emotion that is the definition of a curious and accidentally naughty preschooler.
Crossing fingers for more seasonal “red” tales. (Picture book. 2-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4232-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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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. 29, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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Is it a stormy-night scare or a bedtime book? Both!
Little Blue Truck and his good friend Toad are heading home when a storm lets loose. Before long, their familiar, now very nervous barnyard friends (Goat, Hen, Goose, Cow, Duck, and Pig) squeeze into the garage. Blue explains that “clouds bump and tumble in the sky, / but here inside we’re warm and dry, / and all the thirsty plants below / will get a drink to help them grow!” The friends begin to relax. “Duck said, loud as he could quack it, / ‘THUNDER’S JUST A NOISY RACKET!’ ” In the quiet after the storm, the barnyard friends are sleepy, but the garage is not their home. “ ‘Beep!’ said Blue. ‘Just hop inside. / All aboard for the bedtime ride!’ ” Young readers will settle down for their own bedtimes as Blue and Toad drop each friend at home and bid them a good night before returning to the garage and their own beds. “Blue gave one small sleepy ‘Beep.’ / Then Little Blue Truck fell fast asleep.” Joseph’s rich nighttime-blue illustrations (done “in the style of [series co-creator] Jill McElmurry”) highlight the power of the storm and capture the still serenity that follows. Little Blue Truck has been chugging along since 2008, but there seems to be plenty of gas left in the tank.
A sweet reminder that it’s easy to weather a storm with the company and kindness of friends. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-85213-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION
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