Any return of this beloved author is an event—and this is an especially exuberant one. Derived from her Bank Street lessons, this story explores sound, concept, and fun in equal measures, while providing opportunity for the liveliest of read-alouds. A rhythmic instruction of making and listening to simple words while making steps and jumps, it urges finishing with eruptions into a jig. Brown’s technique is familiar, but just as much an event here is the inspired choice of re-design. Andreasen (The House in the Mail, p. 53, etc.) paints a squeezably happy puppy in a sailor suit, dancing his mariner’s jig in an overflow of terpsichorean delight. Brown’s language comparisons are echoed by the illustrator’s use of bold, blue line drawings on the margins of some pages, lending palpability to the author’s educational intent. The effect is a package that may turn out to be more satisfying than the original. One can already hear the stamp and thud of laughing kindergartners, and if you peek further in your mind you’ll see them, one arm in front, one in back, hopping to their teacher’s musical exhortation as she falls back on this tried and true but freshly new classic. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: May 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-83348-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2002
Through quick thinking and personal sacrifice, a wise old Japanese farmer saves the people of his village from a devastating tsunami in this simple yet striking story based on Lafcadio Hearn’s “A Living God.” Ojiisan lives in a cottage on a mountain overlooking the village and sea. One day, villagers gather to celebrate the rice harvest, but Ojiisan stays home thinking “something does not feel right.” When the earth quakes and the sea darkens and runs away from the land, Ojiisan realizes a tsunami approaches. Fearing the oblivious villagers will be swept away, Ojiisan torches his rice fields to attract attention, and they respond, barely escaping the monster wave. Rendered in gouache, pastel and collage, Young’s illustrations cleverly combine natural textures, bold colors and abstract shapes to convey compelling images of chaos and disaster as the rice fields burn and the wave rushes in. In one literally breathtaking double-page spread, an enormous wall of water engulfs the teeny seacoast village. A visually powerful and dramatic tribute to one man’s willingness to sacrifice everything for others. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25006-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
Momo longed to carry the blue umbrella and wear the bright red rubber boots she had been given on her third birthday. But day after day Indian summer continued. Momo tried to tell mother she needed to carry the umbrella to nursery school because the sunshine bothered her eyes. But Mother didn't let her use the umbrella then or when she said the wind bothered her. At last, though, rain fell on the city pavements and Momo carried her umbrella and wore her red boots to school. One feels the urgency of Momo's wish. The pictures are full of the city's moods and the child's joy in a rainy day.
Pub Date: March 1, 1958
ISBN: 978-0-14-050240-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 9, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1958
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