A first-person narration puts forth an imagined version of a cat’s inner thoughts as it prowls through the night, and the events are more hushed than the horror-movie title implies. In spare, irregular rhyme, Duncan (Trapped!, 1998, etc.) leads readers on a walk as a house cat goes to “tread on silken toes,” “lap from china bowls,” or “dream of birds and fishes.” The text, while hardly warranting an entire picture book, sets a mood for the tranquil, moon-drenched oil paintings. Each spread is so soundless, it will have readers tiptoeing through the pages, imagining the soft padding of cat feet or the mysterious mewing of a contented kitty. Outlines of string give the cat cunning definition, as do blocks of color that create an unbroken sense of night, subtly laced with a smattering of block-printed stars, moons, and clover. While the cozy paintings are sure to please, the oddly unsatisfying poem hovers around the edges, hinting at the mysterious nature of felines, but failing to deliver adventure, surprise, or true delight. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-670-87513-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999
Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-292858-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
Who is next in the ocean food chain? Pallotta has a surprising answer in this picture book glimpse of one curious boy. Danny, fascinated by plankton, takes his dory and rows out into the ocean, where he sees shrimp eating those plankton, fish sand eels eating shrimp, mackerel eating fish sand eels, bluefish chasing mackerel, tuna after bluefish, and killer whales after tuna. When an enormous humpbacked whale arrives on the scene, Danny’s dory tips over and he has to swim for a large rock or become—he worries’someone’s lunch. Surreal acrylic illustrations in vivid blues and red extend the story of a small boy, a small boat, and a vast ocean, in which the laws of the food chain are paramount. That the boy has been bathtub-bound during this entire imaginative foray doesn’t diminish the suspense, and the facts Pallotta presents are solidly researched. A charming fish tale about the one—the boy—that got away. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-88106-075-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
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