A king is deposed, a lesson is learned, and a message is delivered, all in the pages of a quick-moving, intriguing tale of the jungle. Pfister’s prose flows jauntily as he describes Leo, a pompous and pretty useless king of beasts. When a humble warthog complains about Leo’s ceaseless roaring and is about to be smacked into the next kingdom, another beast intervenes, and Leo is banished as the extraneous member he is. Leo is stunned: “It has always been this way. Why should I change?” But he observes that everyone gets along fine without him, and further notices that he can be of help to others; after completing several acts of charity, he is welcomed back. Eschewing the trappings of crown and throne, Leo understands that it is a privilege to serve. The pages feature inviting colors of the savannah: rich greens and complex combinations of tans and browns. Pfister creates the animals in his trademark wet-on-wet technique, but when the facial expressions are crucial, he brings in details and puts the message in focus. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 15, 1998
ISBN: 1-55858-913-9
Page Count: 26
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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