Tiny and gentle, but powerful just the same.
Not all working dogs are big and powerful, like police or rescue dogs. Some are tiny and gentle, like little Lola, a 5-pound Yorkshire terrier from California certified as a therapy dog.
Lola narrates her own story with just one sentence per page, accompanied by a high-quality photograph of the adorable dog at home, in training sessions or on visits to schoolchildren and “friends who are not feeling well.” The simple story describes Lola’s challenges in her training to be a therapy dog, which are then echoed in her compassionate assistance to others who are facing different life challenges. The story and appealing photos will draw in preschoolers and children learning to read, including older new readers. Lola is definitely an endearing little character, with charming expressions captured in the illustrations and a tempting cover photo of Lola in her therapy-dog bandanna sitting next to her red plaid lunchbox (almost as big as she is). An author’s note explains a little about therapy-dog training, and a page for teachers offers discussion questions relating to “empathy studies,” as well as suggested activities. There are only a couple of children’s books in print about therapy dogs, and this one has the broadest appeal to different age groups.
Tiny and gentle, but powerful just the same. (Informational picture book. 3-10)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-939547-00-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Creston
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
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A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together.
A clueless duckling tries to make a new friend.
He is confused by this peculiar-looking duck, who has a long tail, doesn’t waddle and likes to be alone. No matter how explicitly the creature denies he is a duck and announces that he is a cat, the duckling refuses to acknowledge the facts. When this creature expresses complete lack of interest in playing puddle stomp, the little ducking goes off and plays on his own. But the cat is not without remorse for rejecting an offered friendship. Of course it all ends happily, with the two new friends enjoying each other’s company. Bramsen employs brief sentences and the simplest of rhymes to tell this slight tale. The two heroes are meticulously drawn with endearing, expressive faces and body language, and their feathers and fur appear textured and touchable. Even the detailed tree bark and grass seem three-dimensional. There are single- and double-page spreads, panels surrounded by white space and circular and oval frames, all in a variety of eye-pleasing juxtapositions. While the initial appeal is solidly visual, young readers will get the gentle message that friendship is not something to take for granted but is to be embraced with open arms—or paws and webbed feet.
A sweet, tender and charming experience to read aloud or together. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-86990-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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