“Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.” Dispensing these and other chestnuts of weather wisdom, a pirate captain discovers what real treasure is after saving the residents of a flooded town. Forced ashore temporarily while making repairs to their damaged ship, Captain Oliver and first mate Rosie are shunned by the timorous folk of nearby Mousam until, forewarned by gathering clouds (“When mountains and cliffs appear, a lot of showers and rain are near”), the two sail to the rescue. Krupinski casts the entire episode with mice who are clad, mostly, in toddler clothes (except for his blue jacket, Captain Oliver isn’t particularly piratical, and Rosie even less so), and for extra measures of cuteness, look directly up from the page with shiny, widely set black eyes. Captain Oliver’s final comment makes the “friends are the true treasure” lesson explicit. Nothing subtle here, but that may be the best course for some young audiences. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-525-47579-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
A loving tribute to problem-solvers, quarrel menders, and peacemakers.
A solitary mail carrier brings more than just letters to a forest community.
From early morning to shadowy twilight, an aging, bespectacled letter carrier—depicted in Montero Galán’s forest scenes as a portly, uniformed badger on a bike—quietly delivers to the forest’s burrows, dens, and nests. The notes—all typed and printed in boxes to separate them from the narrative text—offer complaints, apologies, reconciliations, or offers of friendship between animal neighbors. Hedgehog apologizes to Squirrel for an accidental jab, and Squirrel suggests in return having dinner together and a nice chat; Woodpecker’s tapping keeps Dormouse up, and Woodpecker replies with a promise to find another tree; Rabbit would love to join Bear in the pond but is afraid of water, so Bear offers a back to climb on, “just as if I were a big old boat.” At day’s end the weary letter carrier goes home…to spend the evening typing out the very letters he’s delivering. Then one day he finds a letter in his bag addressed to him. It’s a thank-you note from the animals, who follow it up by gathering that night to heap him with appreciation. Emotionally, Montero Galán begins the letter carrier’s tale with an orangey-red dawn and ends with a rosy-red candlelit scene. Although daytime scenes are dominated by blue skies and green grass, the artist unifies the palette throughout with such touches as the red wings of butterflies and red, autumnal leaves on the trees. The effect is to suffuse the pages with warmth.
A loving tribute to problem-solvers, quarrel menders, and peacemakers. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-84-16147-98-4
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Cuento de Luz
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this comfortably predictable variation on the “obnoxious guest” theme, a household consisting of one woman, Irene, and a whole lot of dogs, cats and other pets welcomes—at first—a shivering duck named Max who decided to stay behind when the rest of his flock migrated for the winter. Soon commandeering both the TV remote and the kitchen, Max has definitely outstayed his welcome by spring—but the general relief at his parting turns to boredom, and then to brief delight followed by dismay when he shows up at the doorstep again that autumn with dozens of fellow ducks. In fluidly drawn cartoon scenes, Urbanovic strews a spacious domestic setting with a multi-species array of individualized residents living in more or less peaceful coexistence. In contrast to their panic, Irene responds calmly to the climactic incursion, offering Max a hug and a warm greeting. There’s more comedy, not to mention a sense of closure, in Sandy Asher’s similar Too Many Frogs!, illus by Keith Graves (2005), but the big-hearted open-door policy here will appeal to a wide range of readers. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-06-121438-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2006
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