With its companion, brief but engaging exposures to great music in appropriate European settings.
Thanks to sound chips, strains of classical melodies follow two music lovers around Paris.
Poppy the dog invites his rabbit friend Frannie to play and listen to music in his apartment, then on Parisian streets, in parks, a subway station, and church, and finally at the opera. Readers become part of the audience by pressing designated spots in each cartoon illustration to key several fully orchestral bars from one of 11 Mozart works (identified at the end). They can also, just for fun, cut the music off with such sound effects as a subway train pulling in or an irritated neighbor in the apartment above pounding the floor. Poppy visits Venice just in time for Carnival, and a similar musical sampling from that city’s greatest composer is in the co-published Poppy and Vivaldi. Both outings feature an anthropomorphic all-animal cast, recognizable landmarks, and brief remarks on the lives of the featured composers with period pictures. Musical selections are keyed with a fairly standard-looking megaphone symbol, but, amusingly, an emphatic scribble denotes the other sound effects. The sound chips embedded in the thick back covers come with on/off switches and replaceable batteries, and the sound quality is quite good for the format.
With its companion, brief but engaging exposures to great music in appropriate European settings. (Novelty picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63322-600-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Walter Foster Jr.
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming year in the life of a most idyllic farm; horse lovers will be entranced.
Let’s go for a pony ride!
Lily, a young Black child who lives on a farm, takes readers on a tour. Meadows’ verse leads us step by step through the seasons—ponies grazing in a pasture on a warm day, Lily taking part in a pony show in autumn, and ponies hunkering down in the barn, taking refuge from the “frost and snow” of winter. The easy rhythm of the text pairs well with Cloud’s soft, pastoral vistas. While the story is delivered with a light touch, it still shows the hard work of caring for a large animal. “Soapy water in a pail. / Gentle strokes from head to tail.” “Pick the hooves / for stone and dirt / I notice when / my pony’s hurt.” Exuding familial warmth, the bright artwork lets readers follow Lily from pastures to picnics—and even, best of all, to the arrival of a newcomer: “A foal is born / New life is here.” This easy reader will speak to any child who has wished for a pony of their own and refreshingly centers a family of color—something not often seen in similar titles.
A charming year in the life of a most idyllic farm; horse lovers will be entranced. (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780593483169
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
An absolute pleasure.
A small dog takes a huge leap.
True to her name, sled dog puppy Leap spends her days bounding happily through blankets of freshly fallen snow, bouncily biding her time until she, too, can suit up for a run with the team. Each dog brings a different, equally essential skill to the work of mushing, and as too-young Leap greets the pack when they return from their daily hike, she worries—what if she lacks a special talent of her own when it’s her time to race? But when the much-anticipated day arrives and Leap clips in for her rookie run, her feet tippity-tap excitedly, any trace of self-doubt eclipsed by her irrepressible enthusiasm. With their new addition in tow, the other dogs take off, buoyed as ever by a confidence borne from specialized expertise; they confront obstacles head-on, sailing easily along icy Northwoods terrain. That is until the team encounters a seemingly insurmountable hurdle, one that only their greenest member can clear. Dogsled racer Braverman’s sweet narrative builds a satisfying case for individuality as a community asset, celebrating both the value of teamwork and the discrete strengths that comprise it. Savvy readers will take pride in predicting Leap’s unique contribution, while canine lovers will delight in the revelation that the pups depicted are all real-life sled dogs working in northern Wisconsin. When’s illustrations are equal parts spellbinding and precious, deftly balancing compositional simplicity with masterful color work. The result is peerless.
An absolute pleasure. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780063238053
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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