by Marcus Pfister & illustrated by Marcus Pfister & translated by Rosemary Lanning ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1997
A modest adventure involving an ambitious bunny, a tall tree, and some hazelnuts. One fine morning, Hopper informs his mother that he's heading for the woods to snack on hazelnuts. She gently reminds him that nuts aren't found in spring, and that hares don't usually eat nuts—``I suppose it's because we can't climb trees.'' Hopper pads off to the woods anyway, where he meets a squirrel. Hopper helps the squirrel locate his lost nut horde, and the squirrel shows Hopper how to get up into a tree where they can eat the nuts in peace. Getting down is another matter, but with the help of a friendly woodpecker and an accommodating stag, Hopper makes it back home with a hazelnut surprise for his mother, and a story about climbing trees as well: ``I don't think I'll do it again. It was too scary.'' That comes as a bit of a surprise, after all the fun he has had. Despite the overprotective edge, Pfister's peaceable kingdom is as tidy and secure as ever, a safe haven to which children can turn when the everyday world gets too confusing. The soft watercolors wash the whole event with angelic light. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1997
ISBN: 1-55858-680-6
Page Count: 26
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1997
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by Marcus Pfister ; illustrated by Marcus Pfister ; translated by David Henry Wilson
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by Doreen Cronin & illustrated by Harry Bliss ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2005
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
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by Doreen Cronin ; illustrated by Brian Cronin
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by Andrew Clements & illustrated by R.W. Alley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2005
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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by Andrew Clements & illustrated by Mark Elliott
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