From a small Puerto Rican flag in the cover illustration to the closing notes about (among other topics) mangroves and the bioluminescent algae in Parguera Bay, the setting is more sharply delineated than the characters in this I Can Read. Sandwiched between a glossary and the aforementioned endnotes, both written for more practiced readers, young Rafi uses a magnet to trick his little sister Rosi into believing that he can perform magic, then claims that he’s made the stars fall into the bay’s twinkling waters. In a closing episode, he explains how mangroves grow, then with Rosi’s help recovers an escaped pet hermit crab. In simple cartoon illustrations, Delacre closes each episode on a note of harmony, and casts her sibs as clothed coquis (small frogs) who, despite some teasing, plainly think the world of each other. The informational load is too heavy, but these are sweet tales, with an unusual setting for stories told at such a basic level. (Easy reader. 7-9)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-06-009895-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2004
Mary Veronica’s hopes of winning a gold ribbon at Friday’s pet fair soar when she comes upon an egg by the pond—a rotten egg, opines sister Mary Louise, or a dinosaur egg, suggests sister Mary Margaret. It’s a special egg, thinks Mary Veronica, carefully carrying it everywhere in a homemade nest. In spacious, soft-toned colored pencil illustrations, Yalowitz depicts neatly dressed, dot-eyed figures against mere suggestions of background; Mary Veronica’s attachment to the egg takes center stage, and pays off at the end. Children will be peeping (or quacking) in appreciation. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30134-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
An uproarious tangled tale from Han (The Rabbit’s Judgment, 1994, etc.) that works, because it retains the natural and spontaneous inventiveness of its folk origins. Long ago when “tigers smoked pipes and rabbits had long tails” a tiger wanders into a farmer’s barnyard to nab some dinner. Inside, the tiger overhears a mother trying to quiet her wailing baby: first she threatens that a fierce tiger might overhear the noisy child, and then she offers it a bit of dried persimmon to suck on. That quiets the baby, but the eavesdropping tiger comes away with the information that the dried persimmon must be fiercer, scarier, and stronger than he is. Later, a thief who’s also casing the barnyard lands on the tiger’s back; the tiger is frantic, believing that a dreadful dried persimmon is clinging to his fur. When a skeptical rabbit who hears the tiger’s story goes to investigate the monstrous dried persimmon, he also gets a scare and loses his tail. The twists and turns of the plot are conveyed with energy, while Wehrman’s conjuring of the persimmon into an all-powerful entity helps readers sympathize with the tiger’s fears. A story-hour gem. (Picture book/folklore. 5-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-4580-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
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