Sweet and bright.
With two fluffy antennae and soft feathery wings, a tiny girl named Ella awakens at night. Ella is drawn to light, collecting anything that “glow[s] and glimmer[s] in the darkness” to share with anyone who needs a little brightness in the dark. With a sweet mantra, she gives her light to “calm your fright.” One night, she meets a lonely fox and shares some light, and they become fast friends. Another night she guides a scared owl to fly in the night. Light-loving Ella’s greatest wish is to see the sunrise, but with her delicate wings, she can never go out in the sun. Her animal friends observe how Ella is always sharing her light with others and come together to create a gift for Ella. Sweetness and charm overflow in this book of friendship and thoughtfulness. Ella’s story is a reminder of giving selflessly; her animal friends demonstrate gratitude and giving back. Matching the text, the pictures are adorable but not cloying—the illustrations of light being shared in the night are beautiful and magical. Ella has pale skin with auburn hair. The humans shown are racially diverse.
Sweet and bright. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Nov. 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1269-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor
Having surveyed worms, spiders, flies, and head lice, Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series with a quick hop through toad fact and fancy.
The facts are briefly presented in a hand-lettered–style typeface frequently interrupted by visually emphatic interjections (“TOXIN,” “PREY,” “EWWW!”). These are, as usual, paired to simply drawn cartoons with comments and punch lines in dialogue balloons. After casting glances at the common South American ancestor of frogs and toads, and at such exotic species as the Emei mustache toad (“Hey ladies!”), Gravel focuses on the common toad, Bufo bufo. Using feminine pronouns throughout, she describes diet and egg-laying, defense mechanisms, “warts,” development from tadpole to adult, and of course how toads shed and eat their skins. Noting that global warming and habitat destruction have rendered some species endangered or extinct, she closes with a plea and, harking back to those South American origins, an image of an outsized toad, arm in arm with a dark-skinned lad (in a track suit), waving goodbye: “Hasta la vista!”
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor . (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77049-667-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
The book is available in just about every format--but this is the perfect one.
It's hard to believe that a pop-up wasn't the creators' original intention, so seamlessly do moveable parts dovetail into this modern classic's storyline.
In contrast to the tale's 1998 pop -up version, the figures here move on every page, and with an unusually graceful naturalism to boot. From pulling down Big Nutbrown Hare's ears on the opening spread to make sure he's listening to drowsily turning his head to accept a final good-night kiss in a multi-leveled pull-down tableau at the close, all of Little Nutbrown Hare's hops, stretches and small gestures serve the poetically spare text—as do Big Nutbrown's wider, higher responses to his charge's challenges. As readers turn a flap to read Big Nutbrown's "But I love you this much," his arms extend to demonstrate. The emotional connection between the two hares is clearer than ever in Jeram's peaceful, restrained outdoor scenes, which are slightly larger than those in the trade edition, and the closing scene is made even more intimate by hiding the closing line ("I love you right up to the moon—and back") until an inconspicuous flap is opened up.
The book is available in just about every format--but this is the perfect one. (Pop-up picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5378-1
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
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