adapted by Margaret Read MacDonald & illustrated by Will Terry ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2007
In this retelling of a Hungarian folktale, an enterprising rooster discovers a diamond button while searching for food. On the way home to give it to his mistress, he sees the King, who notices the glittering button and claims it for his own. “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo! Give me back my diamond button!” Little Rooster crows. The King refuses to return the button and decides to have the bird thrown into a well. Little Rooster has a secret weapon, though: a magic stomach that drinks up all the water, allowing him to escape. The King’s anger multiplies as each punishment he metes out is quashed by Little Rooster’s magical stomach and infinite appetite for fair play. Eventually, Little Rooster is able to take his leave—with the king’s treasure, which goes to Little Rooster’s mistress and is shared with the entire village. Energetic acrylic illustrations round out this satisfying, fun-filled tale about a very fowl Robin Hood. Includes a note concerning other versions and similar folktales around the world. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8075-4644-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2007
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by Rosemary Wells & illustrated by Rosemary Wells ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1997
In the siblings' latest adventure, their grandmother is having a birthday (again! see Bunny Cakes, p. 67), so Ruby takes Max shopping. A music box with skating ballerinas is Ruby's idea of the perfect present; Max favors a set of plastic vampire teeth. Ruby's $15 goes fast, and somehow, most of it is spent on Max. The music box of Ruby's dreams costs $100, so she settles for musical earrings instead. There isn't even a dollar left for the bus, so Max digs out his lucky quarter and phones Grandma, who drives them home—happily wearing her new earrings and vampire teeth. As ever, Wells's sympathies are with the underdog: Max, in one-word sentences, out-maneuvers his officious sister once again. Most six- year-olds will be able to do the mental subtraction necessary to keep track of Ruby's money, and Wells helps by illustrating the wallet and its dwindling contents at the bottom of each page where a transaction occurs. Younger children may need to follow the author's suggestion and have an adult photocopy the ``bunny money'' on the endpapers, so they can count it out. Either way, the book is a great adjunct to primary-grade math lessons. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-8037-2146-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1997
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by Rosemary Wells ; illustrated by Rosemary Wells
by Rosemary Wells ; illustrated by Rosemary Wells
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by Peter Stein ; illustrated by Bob Staake ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 2013
Clever verse coupled with bold primary-colored images is sure to attract and hone the attention of fun-seeking children...
A fizzy yet revealing romp through the toy world.
Though of standard picture-book size, Stein and illustrator Staake’s latest collaboration (Bugs Galore, 2012, etc.) presents a sweeping compendium of diversions for the young. From fairies and gnomes, race cars and jacks, tin cans and socks, to pots ’n’ pans and a cardboard box, Stein combs the toy kingdom for equally thrilling sources of fun. These light, tightly rhymed quatrains focus nicely on the functions characterizing various objects, such as “Floaty, bubbly, / while-you-wash toys” or “Sharing-secrets- / with-tin-cans toys,” rather than flatly stating their names. Such ambiguity at once offers Staake free artistic rein to depict copious items capable of performing those tasks and provides pre-readers ample freedom to draw from the experiences of their own toy chests as they scan Staake’s vibrant spreads brimming with chunky, digitally rendered objects and children at play. The sense of community and sharing suggested by most of the spreads contributes well to Stein’s ultimate theme, which he frames by asking: “But which toy is / the best toy ever? / The one most fun? / Most cool and clever?” Faced with three concluding pages filled with all sorts of indoor and outside toys to choose from, youngsters may be shocked to learn, on turning to the final spread, that the greatest one of all—“a toy SENSATION!”—proves to be “[y]our very own / imagination.”
Clever verse coupled with bold primary-colored images is sure to attract and hone the attention of fun-seeking children everywhere. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6254-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
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